Horrifically Bad Writing
by Windschild8178
Summary: A compililation of my first attempts at Naruto. I'm putting it up to give people a good laugh before deleting them from my lap top forever. Please don't critique it... just have a good laugh.
1. Alone

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

**Remember I wrote this a long time ago (Years and yeas ago) I didn't change anything so that you could all cringe together and go ahhhhh... I'm so glad she doesn't write like that anymore... **

**This was the very first one I ever wrote. It was called Alone. I hate it with a fiery passion, hopefully you'll enjoy it for laughs. **

Chapter 1 To return to the beginning & The Cruelty of Konoha

**Alone**

~~~~To return to the beginning~~~~

~~~~The Cruelty of Konoha~~~~

A child walked across empty streets, his pace quickened by panic eventually becoming a run. No crowds to hide in, no direction any better than the last, no one to hear his screams... For a single instant before he trudged through a puttle an image revealed a soft face filled with fear, bright blue eyes and on each of his cheeks three whisler marks, he did not even notice the mud and water that drenched his shorts. His breath came in short desperate gulps and his body shook with the effort to keep from collapsing. His apartment still stood too far away. He dashed dangerously around curbes nicking the side of his arm and barely managed to dodge a pile of boxes. He crashed into a booth closed for the day earning a nasty bruise just above his stomach. Luckily it hadn't knocked the little air he had left out of him. The noise should have caused enough commotion to bring out several people, but the place stood deserted and no one came...

Earlier in the Morning

Naruto woke with a jerk that sent him off the side of his bed and onto the floor, to land in an ackward position, most of his body leaning against the bed while the rest of it (his head and sholders) laid against the wooden floor. He tumbled over holding his head in his hands and irratable to be woken in such a matter. He looked at his now cracked window, the source of what'd surprised him into wakefulness. He crawled onto his bed once more and peered down to see no apparent cause to the sudden crack, then spotted a peice of a brick that had a few shards of glass around it. He took a closer look at the window and realized that he'd overlooked a hole just beneath the crack. Wearily he slid the curtain across the window so he could ignore it for now and get some more sleep.

However this was not ment to be. The moment his blue eyes hid behind the skin of his eye lids a smash of glass rained on his body. Thankfully the curtain he'd just moved saved him from most of the glass and even managed to stop the momentum of the full sized brick. His thoughts of sleep forgotten he shakily got out of bed and randomly began to pick up pieces of glass. His small hands worked quickly but carefully, not wanting the sharp pieces to cut into him too much. When he finished he smiled broadly, even with the thought of the window, nothing could deterate his good mood today.

Naruto made his way to a board in the floor and, peering over his shoulders, pulled out a tin box. He opened it and dumped its contents onto the floor. A relatively impressive amount of money lay there, carefully saved up for this special day. Today he turned six years old! Naruto knew exactly what he wanted to do for his birthday too. A restaurant lay quite a few blocks from Naruto's apartment building, it was said to house the best deserts in the village and what Naruto held his sights on was a cake for his birthday and (if he had enough money) perhaps a dinner too. He'd never once gotten a birthday cake and tried to ignore all of the children who talked about it and a party besides that.

The restaurant supposebly boasted the best food around but this was the first time he would have enough money to actually go. He had been saving for a looonnnggg time, putting away the littlest of change for this special occation. Today also happened to be the day of the festival, honoring the fourth Hokage and the other fallen shinobe, it celebrated the safety of the village as well. His previous birthdays usually ended in disaster because of his clumsiness. He vowed to himself he wouldn't let himself ruin another birthday, he would avoid the busiest streets even if it ment that it took him an extra ten minutes to get to his destinations. He stuffed all the money into his froggy wallet that the third Hokage gave him just a few weeks ago and headed out the door in a pair of blue shorts, a black shirt with the Uzumaki symbol on the back that hung just a bit too big for him and a pair of blue sandles.  
>The little six year old dashed out of his apartment and took an alley that lead away from the main street toward the Ramen shop for breakfast. The youngster found that the chief and his daughter didn't hold that look in their eyes that most of the villagers seemed to possess and for that reason found his way to the shop each day. He knew how to get there from any area of the village and even with the detour he still made it to the street quickly, excitement making him spert into a run.<p>

Three men watched the boy turn the corner and head their way. An icey look seeping into each pair of eyes, their muttered curses audible only to each other. One of the men noticed the direction the boy intended to take and smirked. He waited a little impatiently for the right moment. The child was fifteen feet away, ten, seven, five, three... Now! He casually slid his foot out just as Naruto ran past. When he hit the leg he flew, hit the ground hard and all the breath was forced out of his lungs. "Hay you wretched brat you scuffed my boot," a low man's voice snarled at him. Naruto staggered to his feet cursing his own clumsiness and broken promise. No matter how hard he tried he still managed to some how anger people. The man stood up and walked to stand in front of him. "Sorry," Naruto whispered when he managed to get some breath back. The man in front of him stood tall and strong, a leaf headband tied along his forehead to keep brown hair out of his face. He wore the uniform of a Chunin with big black boots. Naruto couldn't see the two behind him but thier footfall sounded heavy indicating that both were rather large.

Naruto considered this to be more than slightly bad and began to try to pass the shinobe in front of him, but to his horror the man stepped to the side and blocked his way. "Where you going kid? I'm not done talking to ya, kinda rude isn't he Truda?," The shinobe said, his voice barely above a whisper. One of the men behind him (Truda?) cackled a bit and Naruto tensed. "Perhaps he doesn't have any manners cause hes got no parents to teach it to him ha?" Truda drawled. At this Naruto tightened his eyes to keep himself from allowing tears to spill over. Was what he did really that bad to deserve this? The six year old seemed to shrink even more under the gaze of the men which only made them smile. The man who'd been silent until now spoke up. "Maybe we should teach the little brat some manners, consider it a mission for the village?" Naruto really, really didn't want to be there, he wanted to just dissapear or let the earth swallow him into its depths.

Truda grabbed the boy, his feet easily lifted off the ground, and pain shot through Naruto from the harsh grip. Naruto began to thrash and yell and Truda gripped the boys mouth to silence him. The shinobe in front smiled in great amusement and simply watched. "First we'll teach you how to keep quiet, then we'll twist your arms a bit so you'll learn not to scuff people's shoes, next we'll give you a good beating so you'll learn not to thrash around when your elders talk to you," Truda whispered to the terrified child. The mans grip grew tighter until he thought the man aimed to break his arm and Naruto allowed the tears to slide down his cheeks. The other man turned toward Naruto and yanked his head up by his hair. "Wait Truda the first thing you got to teach disrespectful children is that they should look at you when you talk to them," the man said. Naruto found himself face to face with a rather large man, his eyes seemed to be more of a frozen wasteland than the green color they displayed. A chuckle erupted from the man when he saw the tears that Naruto shed. This angered Naruto more than anything else and he closed his eyes shut and pulled down as hard as he could. Unfortunely this only held the effect of having a lot of hair ripped out and even more laughter from his three captives.

"What the hell do you think your doing?" A mans voice from far away shouted angrily. The man who'd grabbed his hair let go and Truda dropped Naruto to the ground, his body hit with a thud, but Naruto was far from caring about that. He'd recognized the Chiefs voice immediately and sobbed in relief and pain. "Relax old man we were only having a nice chat with the kid thats all, a friendly conversation," the shinobe explained. "Conversation my ass," the Chef shouted as he made his way over. He walked right into the middle of the three men (all of which looked much more powerful than the he) and bent down next to the little six year old, swiped him off the ground and glared venomously at them. The boy trembled in his arms and the Chef found himself ashamed of his own village. "The Hokage will hear about this," the Chef said emphasizing every word. The three men snarled at the Chefs back. "Ayame! Come here now!" The Chef shouted. Out came a teenaged girl with a surprised look on her face at her fathers angry shout. When she saw Naruto though her hand flew to her mouth in shock. "Ayame, take Naruto inside while I go down to the Hokage's tower," the Chef handed Naruto over to his daughter and took off down the street with one last glare at the three men, but they were no where to be seen.

Ayame brought Naruto's shaking form into the back room and dampened a cloth with warm water. She wiped away his tears and cleaned the dirt off of him. He quieted after a few minutes and Ayame looked into his eyes, they appeared dem and weary and she had to look away to keep herself from crying. Compared to his usual cheerful self the image sent an ache to her heart. After a few minutes she composed herself enough to look at him again. She smiled at him and he returned it though with less vigor. "Thank you Ayame," he said, his voice soft and sincere. Ayame just stood there for a moment the cloth against his arm held still. How could they do something like this to someone so sweet, a child no less. "Your welcome Naruto, now would you like some ramen?" Ayame asked hoping to steer him towards happier thoughts. It worked, thankfully. Naruto gave her a full blown smile and nodded. She took his hand and led him to the front where the Ramen shop was. However, instead of sending him around to sit she asked him if he would like to eat his food behind the counter. "Just for fun," she whispered to him. His eyes were wide and he bounced with excitement. "Now what would you like to eat?" she asked. Naruto stopped bouncing and put his finger to his chin in contenplation. "Could I get a Mizu ramen?" he asked. Ayame nodded and began to cook.

Naruto couldn't help but smile as Ayame handed him his bowl of ramen. His birthday wasn't ruined after all! She'd actually let him in the back! He laughed as Ayame began a story about how her father one day put chile pepper into a customers food instead of salt and how they managed to get quite a bit of money from the man because of all tea he'd ordered to drown out the sudden spicey taste in his mouth. The Chef and Ayame were always so kind to him, yet this puzzled him to no end. They didn't seem to think that he did anything wrong and even went to all this trouble to be nice to him. This continued to worry him because he knew sooner or later they would see that he had done something wrong and then they would treat him like everyone else did. So he smiled extra big at Ayame as he ate hoping that her kindness would last forever. After he finished he pulled out his froggy and decided to give them a BIG tip because it was the only way he knew how to thank them. However when he offered the money to Ayame she just shook her head. "Today your ramens on the house," she said. Naruto stared at her a little shocked. To let him eat behind the counter AND have the meal free? "THANK YOU AYAME!" Naruto shouted in joy and threw himself on Ayame giving her as large a hug as he could. Then realizing what he'd done quickly stepped back and bowed his head. "Sorry," he said horriefied, the few people he'd ever hugged before had shoved him off and yelled at him. "Sorry? For what?" Ayame asked in surprise. Naruto looked up in questoin. "Isn't it a bad thing for me to hug you?" Naruto asked. Ayame just looked at him strangely and then threw her arms around him. "No Naruto it most definetly isn't a bad thing, it's a very, very good thing," Ayame said squeezing him tightly, "Don't ever let anyone tell you differently."

Now Naruto stood there extremely confused. There were certain rules that Naruto knew you should never brake. The first one: Do not hug anyone no matter how much you want to. The second: NEVER EVER call any of the people who work at the orphanage mom. Three: Don't EVER tell anyone how you feel. Four: Don't leave the apartment unlock if you value anything inside. Five: Avoid shopkeepers as much as possible (except ramen shop). Six: Remember to hide your emotions and smile A LOT! And seven: Don't ever believe children when they say they want to play a 'game' with you. He'd managed to break two of them before breakfast and Ayame didn't shout or shove or anyting else that hurt like the others. The question Naruto wanted answered was why...

Naruto stayed at the ramen shop for another half an hour before he left. Ayame was reluctant to let him go and hoped the child would be alright. Naruto Knew exactly where he wanted to spend his day. A village sorrounded by woods, Konoha held many paths to walk down and along these paths all sorts of beautiful areas lay. Some lead to waterfalls and streams, others to wide open spaces filled with flowers, still more lead to training grounds for the shinobi of the village. Naruto traveled down dozens of these paths before he found his favorite place in the village. A small area off of one of the branch paths that were rarely traveled down. The space lay beside a small stream with trees to overshadow it, allowing the perfect amount of light to seep through to the ground below. A large bolder hid the small area from the path and Naruto himself would never have found it if he'd not tripped into the underbrush and heared the sound of the small stream. In this little peaceful place Naruto had planted a small garden filled with the most interesting and beautiful things he could find.

However, Naruto knew that he would probably be there a while so decided to pick up some rice balls from the store. The woman whom he bought them from glared at him coldly, but Naruto just turned his head away in an attempt to lesson the womans anger that had come from apparently nowhere. He wasn't sure what he'd done wrong, but knew from experience that the woman wasn't going to tell him. Normally rice balls were a bit too expensive and he would not get them but today was special so Naruto picked up two (one even had chocolate on it!) and placed them in his pockets rapped in cloth. At that moment he noticed the small figure just outside the shop. He stepped closer and realized that the figure was a little girl about his age. She wore a white dress which happened to match her pupiless eyes. Her black hair that held a purpulish tint to it was cut short. The girl shuddered and took a step back, her hands held in front of her as if to ward something terriffing off. Naruto looked at where the gril was backing away from to see several children about their age advancing toward her in a threatening manner. The words the boys yelled at the girl drifted over to him.

"All you Hyuga basterds are nothing but snobbish trash," yelled the boy in front. The girl took a step backwards, tripped and fell backward to land hard on the ground. Naruto's eyes hardened as he stepped between the group of boys and the girl. "Hay, what the hell do you think your doing?" yelled the leader. "Leave her alone," Naruto grawled at the boys staring them down. Thats when the boy noticed who it was who had stepped in between them and their prey. "It's that Freaky brat!" The leader yelled to the others. The words stung Naruto even as it was helping him in this situation, for many of the boys had begun to back away. The leader however only glared at him. "Move or I'll knock you to the ground right next to that brat behind you!" The leader yelled. Naruto just stood his ground and kept his eyes on the boy in front of him. The boy snarled and punched Naruto hard sending him to the ground. The boys smirks quickly dissapeared as Naruto merely got to his feet again and looked at them as if to say 'what, is that all you got?' The boys who at first had taken a few steps back now turned and ran full speed in the opposite direction leaving only the leader and two others to face Naruto. "Well look at this the Freak and the snob together, how sweet," the boy snarled, but Naruto noticed he didn't try to hit him again either. "Leave her alone," Naruto repeated but this time he put a bit more force into the words. The leader glared at him but then turned and began walking away followed by the last two of his group. "Trash always travel together," the boy yelled over his shoulder before dissapearing around the corner.

Naruto turned around when he was sure that the boys were gone and looked down at the girl. She sat there staring at him with a look on her face that Naruto didn't recognize. Her eyes were wide open and her mouth was slightly agap but not with fear or anger or even sadness... No it was more like a look of aww. That struck Naruto hard. No one ever, EVER looked at him that way. Naruto shook his head and helped the girl up off the ground and looked at her with concern. "Are you o.k?" He asked. She nodded her head and he smiled at her broadly. She blushed deeply and looked down at the ground. "Thank you," she whispered so softly that Naruto barely heared. "Your welcome," Naruto said his smile even broader this time.

An idea suddenly struck Naruto as he looked at the girl. He dug into his pocket and produced his chocolate covered rice ball. Though he would sorely miss it he knew that she probably needed it more than he did. He unrapped it and tapped the girl on her shoulder. She jumped in surprise and stared at the rice ball in his hand in question. "Here," Naruto said giving to her. When the girl hesitated Naruto gently opened up her hand and placed it there. "When your having a bad day its always nice to have a chocolate rice ball because then at least one good thing happened today," Naruto said with his finger in the air as if he was giving a lecture, "I've already had something good happen to me today so I want you to have it." The girl just stared at him but then gave him a shy smile. "My name is Naruto, whats yours?" Naruto asked. "I'm H-Hinata," Hinata replied. "Hinata," Naruto repeated, "Thats a pretty name I really like it." This time when Hinata blushed her whole face grew a deep red.

"Hinata!" Yelled a tall man with eyes matching Hinatas. "Coming father," Hinata called. She turned towards Naruto and Regretably thanked him one last time and said good bye. However the boy was not angry with her for leaving so quickly after giving a present but just smiled and told her that he hoped to see her again. She kept her present close to her as she hurried towards her father and knew that she would never forget the boys kindness or the smile that made her want to smile herself.

Naruto waved goodbye and made his way to the path that he'd originally intended on going to. The day shone brightly, clouds spun in every shape imaginable and the wind gentle against his back. The leaves seemed to dance and sway with the wind instead of a force beyond their control moving them along. Naruto hummed a tune with his arms swinging along side of him and his clothes rustling around with the wind. It wasn't long before Naruto came to a wide open field that the path curved around. He was surprised to find two children there though. They weren't doing anything however, just lying back and looking up at the sky like it was the most facinating thing in the world. One held his hair back into a pony tail while the other was rather large with an open bag of chips beside him. His curiosity getting the better of him Naruto went over to the two and looked down.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked. The boy with the pony tail looked over at him then turned back to watching the sky. "Cloud watching," the boy said. "Cloud watching?" Naruto asked looking up at the sky himself. "Yeah, if you look closely at that one over there," the boy said pointing at a particularly big cloud, "it looks like a butterfly with its wings spread out." Naruto looked and indeed it did resemble a butterfly with its wings spread out. "Hay Shikamaru look at that one over there it looks like a dog with really big ears," the big one said. Shikamaru looked over and laughed when he saw it, Naruto smiled and for a few moments just looked up at the clouds. "By the way, my names Choji and hes," Choji said pointing to his companion, "Shikamaru." Naruto beemed and said, "My names Naruto, it's nice to meet you." Choji smiled and asked, "want to sit with us and watch the clouds?"

Naruto thougth about this for a moment. One of his rules was to never believe children when they wanted to play a game but was watching clouds really a game? Naruto decided that it wasn't and excepted the offer by nodding his head and plopping down beside them. And that is what he did for the better part of the morning. The three layed there and named different types of clouds that tugged on by. Eventually the two said goodby and headed back to the village to get lunch. They asked Naruto if he would like to come but he politely declined knowing that to say yes would mean he wouldn't have enough money to go the restaurant that night.

Naruto continued on his way but before long he found himself on the side of the path examining a beautiful plant that had begun to die. The plant before him appeared to be a bright orange, its petals so large that they drooped creating a willow effect. With gentle hands Naruto dug deep into the ground making sure to safely unearth all of the roots. If he was going to replant it in his special place he needed all of the roots intact. In less than ten minutes Naruto made it to his little hide away and quickly chose a place right beside the stream where the sunlight spilled through the branches the most. He shoveled the dirt away with one hand taking care not to damage the plant and then settled it into its new home. When he finished his face was smudged with dirt and his hands where a dark brown but the plant already looked to be better off than it had been in its former home. Naruto sat back and enjoyed the thought of a new plant among his other ones. He washed his hands in the stream and then watered all of the plants by cupping his hands and going back and forth to each one. When that was done he leaned against the bolder and pulled out his slightly smushed rice ball and ate happily as the afternoon war on.

Naruto closed his eyes and found himself suddenly very tired. He allowed sleep to overtake him knowing that he was perfectly safe. The warm grass beneath him felt as comfortable as a bed as dreams enveloped him. When he awoke the sky shown with many different colors of reds, purples, pinks and blues. He sighed realizing that he'd slept most of the day away but quickly smiled at the thought that he would finally get to see what it was like to have a birthday cake. So it was with these thoughts that he began to make his way back to the villlage.

When he arrived at the restaurant the sky shone dark and promised a heavy storm with clouds so dark that midnight would scream in jelousy. The place bussuled with laughter and talk as Naruto made it to the entance. A woman in her early twenties came up to Naruto with a smile on her face and asked him how she could help him. Naruto dug out his froggy and pulled out his money explaining how he'd saved to come and eat here. However the woman took a closer look at the child before her and all her friendliness dissapeared the moment she saw his whisker marks. Naruto stopped talking when he saw the smile on the womans face replaced by an fierce anger. The change took Naruto by surprise and stabbed him with a familiar pain that seemed to naw away at him. "How dare you come to my families restaurant you wretched piece of shit," the woman whispered in a dangerous tone. Tears sprung to Narutos eyes and no matter how hard he tried to stop them they refused to acknowledge his pleas. The woman stepped forward forcing Naruto backwards and completely out of the restaurant. The woman smacked Narutos hand hard sending his hard earned money across the road. "You think you can come to my restaurant and eat here just like any citizen of Konoha? You, a worthless bit of trash that doesn't deserve to live in our village, thinks that you have the right to sit among our people?" The woman moved so close that Naruto fell backwards and was forced to crawl back to avoid the woman stepping on him. "Don't you EVER come back to my families restaurant again!"

With that Naruto got up and ran, tears of confusion and pain pouring down his face. He ran until he couldn't run any longer, collapsing on the ground in the middle of a park by the ninja academy. There he stayed sobbing and allowing all the pain he'd held inside until then to come out. He hugged his froggy walet tightly against him, his want of someone to cry on, someone to hold onto hitting its peek and making him sob even harder. Far off he could hear the people of the village celebrating the festival and a numbness overcame him as the wind changed from its cheerful nature to that of a harsh, cold hand. After an hour of sobbing Naruto slowly moved into a sitting position. From head to foot dirt covered him and a dull ache eminated from his stomach as he realized the last thing he'd eaten was the rice ball early that afternoon. Naruto forced himself to get up and tried his best to remove the dirt and tears from his face but found he only made the smears worse. He sniffed several times at an attempt to calm his nerves but failed miserably.

His birthday that he'd planned on being so great turned out to be one of the worst days ever. Worse things had happened of course, but it was the fact that he'd wished so hard for today to be wonderful that made it so painful. With his finger Naruto drew a cake in the dirt and put six candles on top. Even if everything else had been ruined there was one thing that he refused to give up. A birthday wish. Naruto closed his eyes: _All I want is one person who cares about me. _With that Naruto opened his eyes and blew the dirt candles all out. Then the wind picked up another notch and blew the whole cake away, the dust particles swirling around him for a moment before they drifted into nothingness.

Naruto dragged himself to his feet and began to make his way home, wanting to forget the day and just drop onto his bed. No one wondered why he looked like he'd been through hell, anyone who saw him just glared at him like always. The crowds were thick and Naruto tripped several times from arms and legs suddenly appearing out of nowhere, however Naruto merely got up again and kept walking. He now sported a couple nasty scrapes on his knees and sides and bagan to finally realize that it was not his clumsiness that sent him to the ground each time but rather the people around him who hated him. Weariness eched each step as he searched for streets that held little or no people on them. These were rare however due to the fact that everyone in the village gathered on this side of the town to celebrate. Unfortunetly he was forced to venture through the brunt of the crowd before he managed to reach the end of this area. He slid between two woman who yelled at him for being rude, but Naruto found that he was far from caring about them or anyone else. He felt completely numb inside as he began to realize how many times he'd blamed himself and actually apologized to those who'd shoved him from behind or tripped him.

It was then when the crowds began to lesson that he noticed the figure watching him intently. Naruto recognized him immediately as the shinobe from early that morning. Naruto quickly turned down another street and moved at a fast pace, wanting as much distance between him and the shinobe. However when he looked ahead there he was! _How did he get there so quickly?_ Naruto thought in panic. The shinobe blocked the way to Naruto's apartment but Naruto knew another way. He took an alley to his left and began to run as fast as he could. He turned out of the alley and looked back, his hands on his knees. The shinobe hadn't followed him, that was good. As Naruto walked down the nearly empty street he laughed to himself at being silly enough to think... That trail of thought ended when he saw the same shinobes face twisted in a grin and his eyes filled with a hatred that sent a chill through Naruto.

Naruto now desperately regretted that he'd left the crowds of the festival as he realized that no one but the shinobe and himself were on the streets now. Naruto turned around to go down the alley that he'd come from to find that the man was also there. _How is that possible? _Naruto thought now in full blown panic mode. Naruto looked back and sure enough there were two of them. Naruto went down the only street that didn't hold a clone of the shinobe trying to think of which way his apartment could be reached from where he was. If he took two rights, a left turn and then another two rights that would take him to his street. But could he make it? The shinobe drifted closer and closer with every step he took.

No crowds to hide in, no direction any better than the last, no one to hear his screams... Naruto trudged through a puddle, he did not even notice the mud and water that drenched his shorts. His breath came in short desperate gulps and his body shook with the effort to keep from collapsing. His apartment still stood too far away. He dashed dangerously around curbes nicking the side of his arm and barely managed to dodge a pile of boxes. He crashed into a booth closed for the day earning a nasty bruise just above his stomach. Luckily it hadn't knocked the little air he had left out of him. The noise should have caused enough commotion to bring out several people, but the place stood deserted and no one came... They were all at the festival. _Would they come even if I screamed? _Naruto thought bitterly.

At that moment the shinobe appeared before him and Naruto barely had time to look up in shock before the shinobe hit him hard against the side, his body lifted off the ground and tumbled into the abby nearby to smash against a tall wooden fence. Pain shot through his body as he struck the fence and he could hear the sickening thud his head made on contact. When he hit the ground he found himself beside an overturned trash can, its contents spread out underneath him. He staggered to his feet, hands craddling his head. It was then that Naruto noticed the mans face, it was bright red and his eyes were slightly unfocused. The man held a bottle in one of his hands, that spilt over with each step the man took.

"You tittle demon! Do you have any sssidea how muuuch brouble you got me in. You don't deserb to be in our hillage. You destoyed it!" The drunk shinobe screamed. He picked up a broken board with nails bent and rusted on one side swinging it in Narutos direction. "The Okage made a mistake in letting youuu live. But I..." he hit his chest with the hand holding the bottle, "I'm going to make all the villagers youbles go away." Naruto screamed as the shinobe swung down hard, the board smashed against Narutos shoulder, leaving deep gashes. Naruto grabbed his shoulder as he fell to the ground screaming in pain. The shinobe dropped what little of the board still was intact and smiled with glea. "You will nevvveeerrr be part of our village cuz your nothink but a monster. Now hurriee up and die!" The shinobe yelled kicking Naruto hard in the stomach.

Naruto sobbed as he tried to get up, tried to get away but it was no use. "Please stop it," Naruto cried out. The shinobe just looked down and smirked at him. "What did yoouu say? You thirsty?" The shinobe mockingly asked. The man bent down and grabbed Narutos hair, then he poured his alcohol on Narutos head and down his face. Naruto coughed as the liquid stung his eyes and the wounds along his face. The shinobe tossed the bottle into the trash can that leaned against the wall. He shoved Naruto to the ground and kicked him again, his boot hitting Naruto's legs this time. Naruto whimpered in pain and curled into a ball in an attempt to make himself a smaller target. Naruto half screamed half sobbed as the shinobe continued to beat him until he could barely breathe. While he beat Naruto the shinobeb cursed him telling him how worthless and stupid he was, how he deserved death and how much all the village hated him. He then grabbed Naruto by the throat and pushed him up against the wall right next to the trash can. By this time Naruto's eyes lost all of its light, left with only pain, terror and sadness that numbed him to the core, devoid of all laughter or happiness. Naruto's lips were beginning to turn blue as the shinobes grip tightened even further. "Why?" Naruto managed to gasp out. The shinobe leaned in close to Naruto and whispered, "Because your alive."

Naruto moved his bloody fingers across the wall desperate to grasp anything that might ward the shinobe off. His fingers touched the Sake bottle that the shinobe'd thrown away. Naruto gripped it tightly and with all the strength he could slammed it across the shinobes face. Naruto felt more than saw athe sharp pieces of glass shrewd the shinobes face as he let go of him. Naruto hit the ground and forced air into his deprived lungs. The shinobe screamed in pain as Naruto looked for an escape ruite. Thats when he saw it. In the fence was a small hole just big enough for him to crawl through. Naruto ignored the pain in his body, forceing it to get up and dive for the hole. Naruto shoved his head and shoulders through the hole first then began to pull the rest of himself out but something or rater someone grabbed his leg. "Where the fuck do you think you going you wretched tiece of chit!" screamed the shinobe, his bloody face barely visable through the hole. Naruto pulled away from the shinobe as hard as he could but to no avail. The shinobe yanked him upwards hard, causing his leg to dig into the broken fence above the hole. Naruto screamed in pain as the shinobe continued to ruthlessly pull him backwards the gash becoming a longer and deeper. With one final thrust Naruto kicked the shinobe in the face braking the mans nose. Cursing the shinobe let go and Naruto managed to get his whole body out of the hole and forced his beaten body into a run.

The sky then unleashed its promise upon the village drenching it in rain that made the roads muddy and slick. The villagers began to finally make their way to their homes after the many hours of celebration. The Hokage looked out the window of his office, a feeling of dread coming over him, though he did not understand its cause knew that he would find out soon and hoped that it would not be something too terrible. For some reason he found himself glancing over at his predicesor and sighed wearily.

The rain drenched Naruto as he made his way through the streets not bothering to surpress the sobs that escaped him. Pain shot through his body but he refused to stop, refused to look back. He ran down road after road until he stood in front of the gates of Konoha. Naruto hid himself in the brush, watching as the guards passed by. He pulled his shirt off and and tore it into pieces, then rapped and secured all of his wounds. The mud made it difficult to keep the cloth clean but he managed. The deepest wound along his theigh required almost all of the cloth and Naruto even was forced to tear a bit of his shorts off to stop the bleeding. His left shoulder didn't bleed as much, but his muscle was completely torn to peices by the bent and rusted nails making it the most painful of his wounds, he managed to create a sling of sorts for it though. When the guards dissapeared around the corner Naruto struggled to his feet and slipped through the gates. The guards were vigilent when it came to people entering Konoha, but leaving was a completely different story.

Naruto ran long and hard and not once did his eyes wonder back to the village. The road turned to little more than pits of mud as the rain bashed the ground mercilessly. Naruto collapsed to the ground several times and tempted him with sleep, sleep that would claim him forever. Each time Naruto wavered a little more but in the end always struggled on. After a few hours of this Naruto began to cough, the cold leached on to him and slipped under his skin to seep into his bones, and his water drenched clothes and raps weighed down each of his steps. His hair, being soaked, hung over his eyes which continuesly blinded him to the already difficult to see road. His body trembled and each breath came only after a great deal of effort.

When Naruto peered ahead of him he saw a large river overflooded by the rain. The sound of the raging river made Naruto realize how utterly alone he was. He stood there, several miles from Konoha, late at night in the rain beside a river with death hovering above his head ready to take him away at any moment. Death truly seemed a welcome thought to Naruto as he considered everything. If he returned to the village he would only find more hatred and pain, if he continued... could he find another village to live in? Could he find a friend? Or would it just be the same every where he went? Naruto watched the powerful river, its rage unfathemable and uncontainable. Naruto made his decision. What ever he would find, whether it was better or the same, it could not be any worse than living a life where you feel dead, if there was a chance of something better he would take it.

For hours Naruto walked along the river, far enough from it so that he would not fall in but close enough to see the other side, the rain did not let up and he began to wonder if morning had come yet, hidden by the dark clouds. Then, when the rays of sunlight peeked from behind the black depths, it happened. A noise louder than any he'd ever heared before swept across the land like a soundwave. Naruto turned and saw its creator. A huge turrent of water crashed towards him, its power thrusting trees from the ground as if they held little more resistance than a leaf in the wind. Naruto fell to his knees, his battered body unable to bear him any longer. He looked at the wall of water and held no sadness in his eyes but a sort of relief as he knew his death would come quickly and he would feel no more pain, he would suffer no more. Thats when the torrent hit.

Chapter 2 Kyuubi takes charge

Naruto groaned as turned over and found that he lay in water. Not deep water only about a foot and a half, but still with Naruto so small it came up to his waist. Surprisingly his body felt very sore but appeared to be fine, his wounds were gone. _Am I dead?_ thought Naruto. When he looked around he found himself in a place that appeared to be underground. The lights flickered on and off illuminating bits and pieces of the hallway and one of the many pipes lining the walls bent out in an awkward direction to spill out water from its metal mouth. Only the sound of a low growl could be heared eminating from one of the doors behind him to his right. Naruto shakily got to his feet and peered at the door in fear. Then he laughed at himself, what could possibly be in that room that would make his day any worse than it already had become? It would have to be something unbelievably horrible to terrify him today. So with that thought Naruto got up the courage to enter the room.

Oh and how the unbelievable loved to mess with Naruto this day because what he found himself looking dead in the eye happened to be one of the few things on the face of the planet that would terrify him at that moment in time. Before him, behind a large prison of steel, hung a pair of blood red eyes at least five times as big as Naruto himself with slit like pupils. The beast that those eyes belong to stood taller than any creature he'd ever seen and sported fur the color of dried blood. The silver claws clicked agaisnt the floor of their prison and the ears long ears twitched when he'd entered. However, it was the many tails behind this fearsome being that made Naruto lose his breath. Naruto backed away but halted when the creature spoke.

**Kit, do not be afraid, I will not hurt you.**

At the sound of the powerful voice Naruto stopped retreating but did not move forward either. The voice practically forced his body to inaction even though he begged it to move, to run as far away as his legs could take him. Finally after several minutes silance Naruto gulped and calmed himself enough to look at the beast again.

"Who are you?"

**I am Kyuubi, and YOU are my jailer.**

"Kyuubi? Jailer? I... I don't understand."

At this the beast sighed heavily, his blood red eyes staring at the child with distaste. However, it was not the childs fault for his predicament and yelling at the child would do nothing but scare the crap out of the kid. Since the child had decided to leave the village Kyuubi would be forced to watch over him since the child, after all, would not make it on his own. He would not care if the death of the child did not mean his own death.

**Listen carefully kit. I will explain everything. **

Naruto nodded and leaned against the wall for support, he felt tired but sitting would place the water over his head.

**My name is Kyuube. However your people better recognize me as the nine tailed fox. **

Naruto only showed a little shock at this revalation, which impressed the beast as he continued.

**I will not go into detail as to why I was at your village, that part of the story will be saved for a later date when you can handle it. Your Hokage at the time happened to be less stupid than the rest of your kind, so instead of trying to destroy me, he performed a powerful jutsu, known as the Reaper Death Seal, to seal me away. However the requirements were that it must be a living being, not only that but a being just born into this world. This is becuase a humans body is fragile and a body who has adjusted to life already would not be able to contain a great spirit and it would all be for nothing. So a child just born was the only safe vessel because their body would be able to ready itself and change before they adjusted to the world around them. You kit, are the child chosen to be the vessel or jailer for me. With your own chakre you keep me sealed away. However with your body damaged like it is I was forced to lend you my own chakre to save you. Since the seal has been slightly loosened I will be able to communicate with you whenever you or myself wishes to do so. **

Naruto absorbed all this with little to argue against it. He knew immediatly that everything the beast spoke was the truth. It explained everything and even though Naruto wanted to scream that it wasn't true, he knew he would only be wasting his breathe. The Kyuubi observed him and grudgingly admitted that the little brat handled it all very well and that perhaps he would be able to stand the child to some extent.

**You are as much trapped with me as I am with you so we will have to at least be able to work together since you've decided to leave your village. **

This made the child look up and for the first time look the Kyuubi in the eye, tears began to slide down his face as he realized just what he'd done. The Kyuubi looked at the child and sighed, he would have liked it much more if the child had been a little older, a ten or twelve year old would be a lot eaiser to handle than a little runt of six. As the child began to sob quietly the Kyuubi cursed himself and the Yodaime while he was at it. The Kyuubi decided to do the only thing that came to mind. He sent the child back to reality to deal with everything he'd learned on his own...

Blue eyes opened to find stone and rock all around. Under his fingers Naruto felt sand and his feet dipped into a large pool of water that connected to the river by a steady stream. Naruto saw that he was surrounded by steep stone walls smooth to the touch due to years of water grazing its sides. A single opening lay on the far side just big enough for a man to fit through and seemed like a large doorway for Naruto. Naruto found that his shoulder, leg and his various other injuries were gone but he was still left with a badly bruised body and every inch of his body covered in mud and slime. Naruto painfully pulled himself up and slid into the pool of water to rinse off as much of the mud and slime that he could. When he was done his shorts were only slightly cleaner than before and he left the remains of his shirt there to drfit to the boddum of the pool. That was when Naruto noticed the seal on his stomach. A swirl surrounded by intricately done designs.

**The seal will not dissapear until you are completely healed **

'Oh, alright'

**You should try to cover up that seal before you allow yourself to be seen by another human and hide those whisker marks of your while your at it kit.**

'How do I do that?'

**Well you'll** **have to find some new clothing and as for your whisker marks just put dirt over them for now. **

'O.k'

Naruto bent down to the mud and rubbed it on his cheeks, checking his reflection in the pool of water to make sure he covered them up completely. When he finished he turned to make his way to the opening but was stopped by the Kyuubi.

**Wait kit you better drink your fill of water. You most likely won't be getting any more any time soon.**

'But isn't it dangerous to drink water strait from the pool?'

**Don't worry about that. I'll take care of it, just cup the water in your hands for a moment.**

Naruto did as Kyuubi asked and his eyes filled with surprise as the water in his hands suddenly began to let off steam. He smiled as he realized what the Kyuubi was doing and waited as the beast finished cleaning the water before drinking the warm liquid. This event repeated several times before Naruto had quinched his thirst and again made his way to the opening. The sun sat high in the sky revealing a late afternoon as Naruto soon found a path not far from the hole in the stone which Naruto saw actaul turned into a cliff on the side of a rather tall mountain. After a few hours of walking along the path Naruto came into view of a small town. His stomach growled angrily at him but he ignored it and instead moved toward the houses outside of the town that had their laundry oustide drying in the afternoons sun.

When he moved close enough he examined his choices. There obviously were no children in the house because all of the clothes were several times bigger than Naruto himself. Nothing there stood wearable for him so he was forced to move on to the next place. Luckily for Naruto there did seem to be children in this house though more in their preteens. The clothes he found werer three times his size but would have to do for the moment. He grabbed a green shirt and a brown sweater and was about to leave when the Kyuubi spoke up.

**Kit, grab that shawl over there to your right. **

Naruto did as was told and grabbed the long brown shawl before hurriedly making his way back to the path .

'So why did I grab this?'

**That bright blonde hair of yours is too dangerous. Its like a bekan screaming out who you are, you need to cover it up. **

Naruto frowned at that but didn't argue as he pulled the shirt over his head and then tied the sweater around his waiste for colder days. His shorts would be fine for now and he smiled as he relized his froggy still sat at the bottum of his pocket, as least he held one reminder of better memories he thought with images of the the ramen shop and the Hokage. Naruto looked at the shawl with a scowl but rapped it around his head hiding all of his blonde hair and allowing the excess cloth to trail down to the middle of his back. In the end he looked like a mismatched idiot but no one would recognize him which was, after all, the point. Naruto worked his way to the town avoiding as many people as possible and searching for any place that looked like it might have food. When he spotted one place that looked to have a large spread of food Naruto went over to the man selling the goods and spent several minutes trying to get the mans attention.

**Kit, what are you doing?**

'I'm going to ask him if I can work for some food.'

**What? Kit thats...**

The man turned around and glared at the filthy brat in front of him. "What do you want Street rat?" The man yelled angrily. Naruto was a bit taken back but would not run from the nasty man. "I was wondering if maybe I could work for some food sir," Naruto asked speaking quickly. The man showed a puzzled look on his face before bursting out into a full blown laugh. "YOU.. heehehe.. Want to WORK... heehehe.. for some food? haaahahahaaa." The man pretended to wipe tears from his eyes as he looked down on the child before him. "Listen street rat, why don't you get the hell out of here, your upsetting my customers," the man sneered. Naruto glared back at the man, his hurting stomach the only thing keeping him there. "Please, I promise I'll work really hard and won't get in your way," Naruto begged the man and made him turn back to the child. "Look! I won't tell you again," the man yelled raising his hand and hitting Naruto across the face so hard he was sent backwards several feet, "I'm not gonna hire a street rat, now get going you little wretch!" Angry tears appeared as Naruto shakily got up. He could feel the Kyuubis teeth bare in anger and suddenly a strange feeling came over him, a red energy filling every part of his body.

The man watched the child get up and smirked as he saw tears in the brats eyes. Then the child stood up strait and looked directly into the mans eyes. Fear filled him as he saw the pupils become slits and red spread through the ocean blue until it covered them completely. Suddenly the child dissapeared and the man whirled in panic as a loud sound crashed against his ears. Every one of the mans stands filled to the brim with every kind of fruit, vegetable and jams exploded and smashed against the ground. The man looked on in horror as his life work became nothing but a pile of debrees. Across the market stood a small child, a bag of apples in one hand, he turned for just an instant, his red eyes eyeing the man in contempt before dissapearing.

Naruto paniced as he suddenly gained control of his body again and dropped the bag of heavy apples he'd somehow easily picked up in his moment of anger. He'd traveled far from the town at high speeds and now seemed to be in the middle of a forest. He fell to the ground looking at his hands in fear and confusion.

**Kit relax, I only gave that man that man what he deserved. I would have killed him but that would have brought the Ambu out to investigate and we don't need them on our tails. **

At those words Naruto bent over and vomited what little food was in his stomach.

'You would have killed him?'

**Kit, I'm the Kyuubi I've killed many many of you humans. One more means nothing to me.**

'Please don't make me do something like that again, I don't want to hurt anyone'

**You are amusing little one but I will intervene if the need is neccesary. **

'But that wasn't neccesary!'

**Perhaps not but I did get you food didn't I? And that man hurt you didn't he?**

'Yeah but he didn't deserve that..

**Kit, you are too kind for your own good. Now eat and get some sleep.**

Naruto frowned, but his stomach seemed to agree with the Kyuubi so instead of argueing further he found a rather large tree and sat beneath it eating his fill and fell asleep curled up in a ball, the grass beneath him soft enough to cusion his head.

Several months past and Naruto either found someone to work for to get food or (More often than not) stole what he needed with the help of the Kyuubi. However with each town he went through Naruto got better and better at stealing on his own, though he hated himself for it each and every time he did so. Unless he wanted to starve he had little choice in the matter. His only companion was the Kyuubi, his presence a reminder of what happened in his past and a threat to repeat itself if he stayed in one town for too long. In one town he found a man who would give him food and a place to sleep for each day he helped the other workers to haul bags of flour to the bakeries around the town. Unfortunetly Naruto left the town after the nice man who offered him the job began asking too many questions. In another town he'd found a job with a small woman who sold silks. However she insisted on him washing his face and he'd been forced to leave for fear that she would see his whisker marks. Yet another village claimed his shoes after he'd been chased by some large dogs when the owner caught him steeling a loaf of bread. One of the dogs almost managed to bite him but instead ripped off his shoe and toar it to pieces. The other one he lost when he got his foot trapped between some rocks on his way out of the cursed village. He got a sprained ankle while yanking his foot out and never saw the shoe again. Thankfully with the Kyuubi the ankle healed up in less than a day.

Naruto's feet bled from use and were rapped in some of the excess cloth of the head rap when he made it to the second largest village in the Fire Nation, Janzonteed. Unlike in Konoha the builders here were incredibly tall and seemed more like complex metal monsters with its huge pipes sprawling across from one building to another. Naruto dug in his pocket but found little of the pennies he'd saved up from various jobs, he'd spent most on food already, certainly not enough to get a hot meal not to mention a pair of shoes. He hadn't found any clothes better than the too big shirt and sweater like he'd planned either. All the places he considered to be good all asked to many questions of him, lying was unbelievably difficult and he would never tell anyone who he really was. When asked his name he'd come up with fake names that were never the same for places to close to each other.

The roads held many people of all shapes and sizes, a lot like Konoha in that way, though the similiarities stopped there. Naruto wandered through the streets, his eyes searching for what he'd learned were the best oppertunities to get work. Places that seemed overly corwded and the employees were swamped and messing up, places that were run down and desperate or once in a while just a place that seemed to have kind owners who would be willing to let him work. There were even a few occations were they let him eat for free, though those places usually were the most difficult to get away from without telling them something. After a few hours he found a large inn where the manager allowed him to carry boxes from the wagon into the kitchen. The manager thought he was too dirty to do any of the chores around the kitchen and unfortunetly was right, Naruto couldn't afford to got to the bath houses so he'd just bathed in the rivers or streams nearby and he hadn't found another way to hide his whisker marks so his face always held at least a layer of dirt on it.

The boxes were heavy though and took Naruto most of the night to pull them all into the kitchen, by which time most of the day crew had switched with the night crew and shook their heads at the small child as they past. Midnight arrived when he finally finished and the manager looked at the work he'd done and smiled. Even if it had taken the child a lot longer he'd done three mens work for the day and at one-sixth the price he would have had to pay them. Still he felt bad for ripping the kid off so bad so he gave the kid the money along with a free dinner and permission for him to sleep on the couch in the inns front room for the night.

Naruto felt sore and the looks the night crew gave him made him uncomfortable but he was happy. He hadn't slept on something so soft in a long time and fell asleep the moment his head touched the couch. Naruto woke up to find that afternoon already lay upon him. When he asked the manager why he'd not woken him up earlier the man only said that he'd deserved to sleep late and smiled as Naruto said his good byes. Naruto pulled out the money and found that he'd been paid enough to get food for the next few days if he wasn't greedy. The meal he'd had before he fell asleep would last him until late that night so he'd have time to find another job and maybe even complete it before he'd need to eat again.

Naruto found a pipe that leeked a decent amount of water and unrapped his feet. They were better because of the nights sleep and Kyuubis healing but Naruto knew that he at least needed another cloth for his feet. He'd run out of the excess cloth and the one he held in his hands stood as a reddish color due to all the blood from the many cuts his feet endured on a daily bases. Naruto put his feet under the pipe and let the cold water numb them a bit then did the same with the cloth to get as much of the blood off as he could. His feet would be o.k for a little time while the cloth dried. Naruto wondered if perhaps he should go back to Konoha, but the idea slipt away as it always did when he thought back to all the hatred that people showed him there. Here, it was true, that he was treated like a street rat but at least the people didn't hurt him or hate him for being alive.

His thoughts interupted by a passing wagon Naruto tied the cloth to his arms so that they could dry. Naruto cringed at first feeling the rocks against his bare feet but after a few minutes he adjusted to them and once again began walking done the streets of Janzonteed. However he found no job that night and ended up at a small shop that sold baked goods. He bought two muffins and ate them under the light of the lamp just outside the bakery. What Naruto didn't notice was the man that watched him from the shadows as he started towards the path that lead to the outskirts of town. Naruto rarely slept in the towns that he looked for work in often finding the closest woods or valleys outside them. When Naruto turned a corner he found an arm around his mouth as he was dragged into an alley. The man roughly pulled Naruto down the alley and shoved him against the wall. Immediately the Kyuubi began to fill Naruto with his chakre but even though he was scared Naruto didn't want to kill this man and begged the Kyuubi to stop. The man demanded that Naruto give him what ever money he had and Naruto dug deep into his pocket to pull it out before he lost all control. He handed the man the little bag of money he'd gotten from all the boxes he'd moved and the man frowned at the small amount he'd cornered the kid for. "Worthless piece of shit," the man grumbled as he backed away and ran the opposite way he'd come.

**Kit, What the hell is wrong with you?**

'I didn't want you to kill him, he just wanted the money he wasn't going ot hurt me.'

**And if you starve to death I suppose thats not hurting you, ha? **

'I'll just get another job.'

**Your not kind your stupid!**

After that Kyuubi refused to speak to him and Naruto almost regretted holding Kyuubi back when his sore body ached and he had to force himself to get up to look for another job. If he let himself rest he would not be able to get up later.

Chapter 3 The Inuzukas

Unfortunely he found no job the following day or that night and his stomach hurt more than usual. He knew if he didn't find anything to eat soon he would be forced to rely on Kyuubi and he would not be nice about it. So he found himself looking for places that he could steal from that would not miss a small amount of food. He finally found it on the far side of Janzonteed, a large restaurant that served verious types of food. The smell of meat cooking made water come to his mouth but he knew that he wouldn't get any, what he looked for would be something he could easily hide on his body and still be edable if he had to run with it. He spotted his target after a few minutes of careful observation. A small bag of onions, not tasty but would benefit him health wise, they were a vegatable after all. He slid to the ground from the pipe he'd been on and hid underneath the seal of a window where he waited quietly for an opportunity to present itself.

He peered into the restaurant again but this time found himself facing an extremely large black dog with, of all things, an eye patch covering his right eye. Naruto screamed in surprise throwing himself back so fast that he fell backwards hitting the wall across from the restaurant. Several people looked up and over at him and her cursed himself for not handling the situation better. However as the large dog jumped out the window and started moving towards him he suddenly decided that being found was the least of his problems. He still held ill memories of the last dogs he'd encontered and his sore feet as a reminder. When the dog came over Naruto swallowed hard and threw his arms in front of his face in an effort to protect himself, but instead of ripping him to shrewds the dog instead nodged him. Naruto peered over his arms and relaxed when the dog only lay down next to him. He heared a strange sound come from the animal and if he didn't know any better would swear that it was a laugh of some kind. Naruto catiously stroked the animal and noticed that one of it's ears were missing. The dogs good eye seemed to be looking at him, but Naruto didn't mind as long as the dog didn't bite him.

Seeing as he now held absolutely no chance of stealing any food from the place, Naruto sighed and just leaned back against the wall stroking the dogs soft fur and enjoying the warmth the dog eminated. He knew he would not find another place before he passed out from hunger and regretted it deeply, but there was little he could do at this point. His eyes began to droop and to both his surprise and the dogs he fell into unconciouness right there, his head leaning against the warm body.

"Kuromaru!" A womans voice called out. "_I'm over here, don't shout," _Kuromaru said to the woman. The woman who appeared at the window sported dark brown hair and red fang marks done the side of her face. She wore the official shinobe uniform of Konoha and her eyes were wolflike. The woman even carried herself like a wolf in fact, radiating power and strength, her loud voice suited her well. "Whats this?" She asked peering at the boy, now asleep, leaning on Kuromaru. The first thing she noticed about the child was that he was badly underfed, almost no baby fat even though he looked to be no older than five. His clothes were little more than rags and his feet were rapped up and obviously bled often from the blood stains on them. Furthermore he was layered in dirt so thick his skin looked a deep brown, the little tough of hair that seeped out was a light brown but she suspected that wasn't its original color. His hands looked battered from use and other than the clothes on his back he carried nothing. _"The pup was going to steal some of the food from the restaurant, I would have let him but the chef saw him and was going to do something to the boy so..." _"You stopped him before he got caught." finished the woman.

"Well, he won't make it if we leave him. Why don't we take him to our camp, ha?" The woman said as she bent down and gently lifted the child off the ground. It stunned her to realize how incredibly light the boy was and saddened her that no one seemed to care that a child starved on the street right beneath their noses. She and Kuromaru made it to their camp quickly and were met by a young teen with dark hair tied into a bow and red fang marks to match the womans. "Hana, I know your training to be a vet but is there any thing you can do for the child?" The woman asked as she handed the boy off to her daughter, who looked at the child in shock. "I'll try my best," Hana said as she gently laid the boy on one of the mats they slept on. Kuromaru and the woman sat by and waited patiently while Hana looked the boy over, her frown becoming deeper and deeper with every minute. Finally she went over to her pack and took out bandages and medicine. She talked to the two while she worked.

"As you can imagine the boys underfed, it will take a long time to fix that. He's suffering from suvere exhaustion and has a slight fever," Hana elaborated while she took off the boy's bloody cloth off his feet and removed the head cloth as well. "He's dehydrated from lack of water, and has bruises all over his body, though from what I can only imagine." Hana removed the boys other clothes and covered him him a blanket. "Mom, please boil some water and start to cook dinner, more than anything else this boy needs a good meal and clean water." The woman nodded and hurriedly went to work. _"Hana, will the pup be alright?" _Kuromaru asked as he laid his large head down on the boys legs. "I think he'll be o.k now that we've found him," She replied placing her hand on his head affectionately.

Hana took medicine that she'd chosen from her pack and lifted the boys head, she forced the pills down the boys throat by pouring down water from her own canteen. The boy coughed but swallowed and calmed down again. _"What did you give him?" _Kuromaru asked curiously. "Just some medicine to make his fever go done and to replenish the blood that he's lost," She answered while checking the childs pulse. When her mother finished boil the water Hana dipped a cloth into it and began scrubbing the childs body to get the dirt and scum that layered it off. To her surprise the child was actual pale which made her scrunch her nose and wonder how long the child had gone without a decent bath. When she got to the boys face her scrub became a gentle wash as she first cleaned his forhead and then his cheeks.

Kuromaru observed all this in silence but when he saw the marks slowly begin to appear onn his cheeks an odd since came over him as if he should know what they ment. _"Tsume, come look at the boys face and tell me if you notice anything particular," _the wolf called out to his partner. "Alright, alright, now whos the one yelling, ha?" The woman said as she strolled over to the group. "Whisker marks? hmm. That does bring something to mind but for the life of me I can't of what that could be," the woman named Tsuma said as she looked down on the boy. _"Are you almost_ _the food? I think the childs going to wake soon," _Kuromaru asked as he looked over at his partner. She looked at the wolf reproachfully and mumbled to herself about 'ungrateful wolves who enjoy driving a woman mad' as she made her way back to the pot of food. Kuromaru smirked as he watched Tsume leave and turned back to the pup cringed in pain as Hana wiped the rest of the dirt off of him.

"Well have to wait until he's awake before we can wash his hair," Hana told the wolf who nodded his understanding. "He looks like he's only a little younger than Kiba, doesn't he?" Hana asked the wolf sadly. _"Indeed, he seems to be a very gentle one. His strokes were etched with kindness and, strangely, some sort of inner stength thats rare in humans. It seemed as if he truly cared about me even though we'd met only a few moments before. You would expect a child on his own and near death to be more... cold," _Kuromaru said reflectively. Hana smiled and looked down at the wolf with a thoughtful expression etched on her face. "I was wondering why you seemed so eager to see the boy well, its understandable but you don't usually show such an attachment to people so quickly. You even took a few months to love Kiba," Hana said. _"The pup refused to stop throwing mashed potatoes at me!" _Kuromaru huffed. "He was only a baby then," Hana laughed. _"More like last week," _mumbled the wolf to Hana's vast amusement. Beneath them the boy began to stir and the two immediately looked down when his eyes opened slightly.

Naruto stared in shock to find that he lay on soft blankets with a young girl and the dog he'd seen earlier above him. He appeared to be in a camp illuminated by lanterns and lady luna high above. He tried to sit up but found that his body refused to move. The young girl forced him to stop moving by putting her arm against his chest. "You should just rest until dinner is ready," Hana told the boy sternly. Naruto was confused but nodded and layed back down, the prospect of food very inviting. "My name is Hana and this..." Hana said pointing to the large dog, "it Kuromaru, I believe you've met." Naruto nodded his head as he thought back to the restaurant. "My mom, over there cooking dinner," Hana siad pointing to a woman with wild brown hair and red fang marks on her cheeks, "her name is Tsume." Naruto nodded again and winced as his stomach felt like it was eating itself up.

"Done," called out Tsume pouring four bowls and bringing them over to them in only a few strides. She set one of the bowls beside the bed and handed two over to Hana. Hana set her own down beside her and then helped the boy sit up. He looked up at her with such a look of gratitude that she almost let go in surprise. To be so grateful for a bowl of soup.. It said a lot. Tsume settled down beside the lot as well, eyeing the child with great interest. He held a pair of beautiful bright blue eyes that seemed to possess a depth that she'd never seen in a child so young, certainly not her Kiba or Hana when she was just a pup.

Naruto sat there a little embarrest and confused that all three were waiting for him to eat, he picked up the bowl and almost dropped it his hands shook so badly, but the young girl quickly put her hand under it to steady it for him. This surprised him and he looked up at her and gave her his biggest smile to show he was truly thankful to her. What surprised him even more was that she smiled back, normally adults just scowled at him. He drank the soup quickly afraid that this was a cruel joke and that they were going to take it from him at any moment, but they didn't and Naruto gladly excepted a second and third helping of the warm and delicious soup. They all ate, well drank, the soup as the sun began to rise and sprinkle color along the land.

"So whats your name little one," Hana asked the boy. The boy stiffened a bit which was not missed by any in the group around him. "My names Tal," Naruto said after a moments thought. They knew he was lying but none of them said a word about it, instead they just nodded their heads. "And how old are you?" Tsume asked. The boy smiled proudly and said, "Six and almost a half." Tsuma didn't even try to hide her surprise to hear this. The boy was so tiny that she'd thought the absolute oldest he could possibly be was four maybe (and that was a big maybe) five, to hear that he was six ( and almost a half) was unbelievable.

Then she noticed the smile slightly slip from his lips as he noticed something and his face turned a bright red. "Umm, do you think I could have my clothes back?" Naruto said in a low voice that would have been difficult to hear if she hadn't happen to be an Inuzuka. Tsume smiled evilly at the child and looked at her daughter who also happened to be smiling. "I don't know, what do you think Hana?" Tsuma asked as the childs face grew even redder. "No I don't think we should ma," Hana said to Narutos horror. "In fact I think I burned those 'rags' of yours for our kindal so we could make that wonderful soup your drinking," Tsume added and smiled wider as the child looked absolutely dumbfounded that they would do such a horrible thing. Kuromaru was making that sound again that Naruto now knew for sure to be a laugh.

"Wait, what about froggy?" He asked, terrified that his little froggy had been burned by the two grinning woman. Hana dug into her green Chunnin vest and pulled out a bright green, freshly washed frog with a metal mouth. Naruto reached over and grabbed it, but in the process the blanket slipped, his whisker marks hidden by the bright red his cheeks turned as he fumbled to bring the blanket around him again. The blanket rapped tightly around him this time he reached for his froggy from the now, not smiling, but beaming woman. "Thank you," he said though still wasn't sure what to do about not having any clothes. They were leaf shinobe after all. Perhaps this was a tactic (and a very good one at that) to keep him trapped here to take him back to Konoha?

Hana got up and searched in her bag, when she found what she'd been looking for, she pulled them out and showed them to the child. "However, we do have these that we bought for Kiba in the last town. He'll miss them but I think you need them more than Kiba," Hana said to the utterly shocked child before her. The boy bowed his head and for a moment Hana and Tsume thought they'd gone too far and hurt his feelings. Then the child looked up with tears in his eyes and whispered 'Thank you so much' and the two just looked at each other in bewilderment. "There just clothes pup," Tsume said kindly hugging the childs shoulders. Naruto smiled broadly at them both and slipped his new clothes on while the two woman respectfully looked away, though with smiles on their faces. Naruto put on a white shirt that was a little too big for him and pants that he had to use a rope to keep from falling off of his small frame, but the feel of clothes that weren't stiff with dirt was welcomed. This brought a thought to his mind though, he also didn't have any dirt on his body, which ment that his face probably didn't either and that his whisker marks were showing. His panic quickly evaporated when he realized that they didn't recognize him, which ment he was safe, for now.

For the rest of the day Naruto watched the Inuzukas go about their camp and discuss the mission they been sent to do (Pick up some important papers that held information on S-class ninja in the Fire nation). The dog, which was actual a wolf as Naruto learned, was named Kuromaru. He observed that the wolf seemed to be able ot speak to Lady Tsume and Hana or that they were able to speak with him, he was unsure of which way it should be considered. They'd wanted to take him to the nearest stream and soak his completely, and hopefully discover his real hair color under all that dirt, but Naruto refused and avoided every tactic. As much as he would like to be clean again his bright blonde hair revealed who he was just as much as his whisker marks, he did not want them to find out who he was and then hate him like all the rest, especially when they were so kind to him.

Lady Tsume huffed but knew they would get him eventually, even if they waited until he fell asleep the boy would be clean by the end of the night. She would never have imagined a child more hell bent on taking a bath than her own child, Kiba, but Tal most definetly beat him by a long shot. It surprised her though, to see how good the child was at evasive manuvers, how he slipt from their grasps and moved away from snatches with ease. It took years of practice to get as good as him and she wondered who or how he'd learned and found a bit of a chill run down her spine as her thoughts lead her to such answers. If no one taught him then that would mean that people attacked him frequently. What did he have to go through before he learned to avoid it? And why would any one attack a child in the first place? She pushed these thoughts aside as she watched him play with Kuromaru. She'd only seen him treat her own pups like this, any other child he would play nice but other than that... She would take him back to Konoha with them, she held no doubt about that in her mind.

For the first time in months his stomache was full, he put all of his left overs in a cloth that Hana gave him for washing. He knew he would need food after they left and did not intend to starve if he couldn't find a job right away. He also scrapped off a small amount of soap for later on. However these actions did not go unnoticed by the two and they found themselves annoyed that they boy was forced to consider that they would leave him on his own. That night when all four of them sat around the fire Tsume decided to bring up the topic of Konoha to tell him that he would be coming with them when they left the next afternoon.

"You know Tal, Konoha is a beautiful village and the largest in the fire nation," she siad peering at the boy for his reaction. To her surprise his hand suddenly froze in the middle of scratching Kuromarus ear and the wolf looked up at the boy with a dissapoint written on his face, however he merely got up and sat directly behind the boy, his big body almost a large wall of fur to the boy. She knew the wolf ment to be against the boys body so they would know how the boy felt about the arrangement. If he was angry, sad, happy... Kuromaru would know because of the boys body movements and heat. Kuromaru felt the boy freeze and senced a nervousness overcome the child. "Our team will be leaving tomorrow afternoon and we hoped that you might accompany us there..." At this the boy tensed and overwhelmed with so much fear the wolf actually flinched. If the fear were the only thing he probably could have held on to his composure, what shocked the wolf to reveal his inner feelings was the smile plastered on the childs face while these feelings overwhelmed him. To think a child could hide so well behind such a difficult mask to maintain. Tsume didn't miss the flinch of her partner and frowned inwardly. What ever took place would have to be truly something to make him do that. "We hoped that you may want to become a part of our house hold, the Inuzukas that is," Tsume finished and looked up at the sky. The child changed from fear to surprise and confusion, though he noticed that still a bit of fear lingered there.

He stayed with the child as both woman left the camp to gather water, mainly as an excuse to let the child think. The moment they left the child leaned heavily against him and he heard a soft sob come from him. Surprised the wolf almost stood up but controlled the feeling enough to stay in his place. He felt the pup try hard to supress his sobs but the attempt failed and only accomplished in making the sobs louder. His body shivered in raw emotion and the wolf found himself at a loss for words, not that the boy would understand anything he said any ways. After half an hour the child fell asleep, his face wet and his body once more against the wolf who simply licked the boys face till it was clean and curled up to keep the boy warm.

A mess of emotions would be the best way to summarize Naruto Uzumakis state at the moment. He'd been shocked to hear that they actually wanted HIM of all people to be in THEIR household. A great shinobe clan of the Leaf village wanted the demon child to live with them. But they didn't know he was the container and he knew their opinion of him would change the moment they found out and if he did go back with them that would be unavoidable. If they found out and still excepted him though... He knew the chance was small but IF they did then he would only be a burden. Their clan would be cursed for bringing him back and the villagers might go so far as to hurt them to get to him. They were so kind though... It hurt to think he might cause them pain. Even the thought of a family sent spirals of pleasure to run freely through every part of his body. If he stayed he would be happy but would cause them pain but if he went he doubted he'd ever find anyone as kind as these people ever again. But if they were unhappy becuase of him wouldn't that make him unhappy? He didn't understand the family thing but he'd heared adults talk about it all the time and knew that people were only happy when the people they care about were.

**Kit, why are you even considering going back? Do you really think they will treat you the same when they find out you carry me? **

'Their really, really nice though'

**Kit, they are Konoha shinobe. I hardly think you've forgotten the last one you meet who knew who are.**

At this Naruto shuddered hard.

'They wouldn't hurt me, I don't think they would any way...'

**Hahahha... Don't be stupid. They will hate you and you will only be trapped in the very place that despices you. You will have accomplished nothing for all of your efforts.**

'What have I done though? After every thing all thats happened is that I practically starved.'

**That wouldn't happen if you would only give me more control.**

'But I don't want you to kill any one and you scare me when you take control.'

**Hmm. Unless it is neccesary I will not kill any one, will that do Kit?**

'Do you promise?'

**Yes, I promise**

'Alright.'

**You are not good enough to escape these shinobe so just give me a little control and I'll give you enough speed and stealth to get away. With this you will still be able to see what is happening but I will be in control of your actions. **

'Wait!'

**What? **The Kyuubi asked a little irratably.

'I wanta write a note to them first.'

**Fine, but do it quickly!**

With that Naruto opened his eyes to find Kuromaru curled around him and his throat tightend up as he realized he would never see the gentle wolf again. Naruto snuggled up against the great beast and enjoyed the warmth and comfort for a few minutes, just a few minutes. He got up and searched for a piece of paper and pen. When he found none he bent over and began writing in the dirt. When he finished he stood up and peered at his handy work. Then he allowed the Kyuubi to take over, the red chakre spilling through his chakre system and encircling him. He felt Kuromaru jump to his feet but the wolf was too late, Naruto dissapeared so fast and covered so much distance in the blink of an eye that it barely left his sent in the air where he stood not but five seconds ago. Kuromaru lifted his head and howled a long sad whine that reached both woman. Hana dropped her pitcher and Tsume just staid where she stood, sadness rapping around her heart.

When the two woman reached the camp Kuromaru led them to the message in the dirt and Tsume read it out loud so that Kuromaru could hear the boys last words. _I am so sorry that I left and I want to thank you for everything you've done but I would only cause you pain if I staid and I hope you'll forgive me. _

The Hokage peered at the woman before him with utter shock. Tsume reported that the mission she'd been sent on was completed. However that was not what shocked him, what did shock him was the story of a child who he realized was the boy, Naruto when she describe the whisker marks on his face. The woman didn't seem to realize just how important the information she held was. Naruto Uzumaki alive? Not only that but he'd been near death by starvation? A deep sadness overwhelmed him and he closed his eyes for several moments before they slid open again. When Tsume finished she looked at him expectantly and he sighed, a breath of smoke dancing across his desk from his pipe.

"Tsume, do you know who the boy you speak of is?" The Hokage asked in deep thought. Tsume peered at him while she considered his question. "I know only that the marks on his face seemed familiar sir," she said. "The child you and your team took care of was none other than Uzumaki Naruto." The Hokage answered, his eyes pbserving her reaction. What he witnessed was purely dumbfounded woman whose mouth slightly hung open. "Thats impossible! I thought the Ambu annoused the child died in the flood a few months ago?" Tsume said her voice barely a whisper. "No they said that they lost all track of his whereabouts because of the flood and rain, I've had search parties out looking for him ever since." The Hokage said with a hint of a sadness carried in his voice. Tsume put her hands to her face in aggravation. "So, the carrier of the Kyuubi was right in front of me and I didn't even realize it? I feel very stupid right now, I'm so sorry we were unable to bring him back." Tsume said.

"We investigated the night he dissapeared thoroughly and found that he was last seen running through the streets towards his apartment. I had the entire area searched but everything, scent and otherwise, had been washed away by the storm. The timing of it was unbelievably unlucky. So much that I have my suspicions that it may have been set up all to get to the boy. Also there was a report from that very morning about some shinobe harrasing the boy. If he's truly alive still then I'll send out a team immediately to the area you camped at have the team search from there." The Hokage looked out his window and stifled the irge to yell at someone, anyone, just to get out his frustration. "If anything happens to that boy..." He whispered this last part more to himself than Tsume but she nodded none the less in agreement. "there will be hell to pay." She finished his thought.

Chapter 4 Blindness Comes Before Death

Naruto hugged his knees as the rain drizzald the road in front of him. He sat under a shop canape, the cloth a slight cover from the cold drops. A few weeks had past since he'd been with the Inuzukas and Naruto felt miserable every time he thought of their warm smiling faces and the offer they'd given him, but at least he wouldn't cause them any pain. He used up the piece of soap though and was filthy agian, his whisker marks were hidden and he'd found pieces of an old shirt to hide his hair and he'd even managed to keep a decent amount of work up to keep him fed so things could be far worse. He felt something move beside him and jumped up in surprise, a rat scurried away along the wall and he sighed in relief. They were nasty creatures but left you alone as long as you weren't trying to get their food and Naruto tried very, very hard to avoid a dinner at the trash cans as much as possible.

He stayed there a few hours more until the rain stopped then continued on his way. After a while he began to notice the shadows that followed his every movement. Not men, too small for men but not an animal either. The shops were beginning to open again now that the rain had stopped its drizzle. A few blocks later he suddenly turned directions and attempted to move to the roof tops to get away from his persuers. However when he jumped off of a rickety box he found his legs pulled hard back down to earth by a figure behind the box. He felt a sharp object placed against his kneck and the heavy breathing of his attacker. "Don't move... or I'll slit your throat." The voice, Naruto thought, sounded like it belong to a boy about ten, maybe elevan. Either way the person was older, bigger and lot stronger than him. A dirty rag suddenly appeared before his eyes and he closed them shut so that the dust from it wouldn't get into them. He felt himself being dragged down the alley and several shadows pass over the pair. For a brief instant he considered screaming but he knew no one would come.

**I'll get rid of this brat for you... It will be easy.**

'No, I don't think he really wants to hurt me, lets just see what he wants.'

**Curiousity kill the cat, Kit.**

'Your a fox.'

**You are dence aren't you?**

'Am not!'

Naruto was reasonably calmer after this conversation and tried his best to not let the blade cut to deep into his kneck while the stranger dragged him for a good half an hour until finally they came into a building. Naruto knew it was a building only because he'd tripped and slammed his head into the door on the way in. Luckily the kid saw this and drew his knife away before Narutos throat had been ripped open. Unluckily the knife returned to his kneck the moment he wobbled to his feet. The knife once agains dissapeared from his throat in a matter of minutes and he was shoved to the ground. "Don't move and don't take off your blind fold, don't even talk. Got that?" A diffrent voice demanded. Naruto nodded his head and smiled to the surprise of all whom stood in the room. He always smiled when he was nervous, years of practice from keeping a mask of happiness on his face he would realize a few years afterward.

"Your in OUR town and we want you out. There isn't enough food to go around as it is and you here means less for us. See what I'm saying?" Naruto noticed he didn't wait for an answer before he continued. "If you don't leave this place by the end of the day well kill you." No emotion lay in that voice and though he knew that they spoke the truth he felt bad for them. They had not asked for this any more than he'd asked for what life had given him. He didn't say that though but merely nodded.

Unfortunetly for him the boss of thier little gang decided that a day was a little too long to wait and he followed the boy out onto the streets after the blindfold had been taken off. He knew what he would do, the same thing he did to every runt that fond thier way to his town and thought they could take food out of his mouth. He waited until the runt stood in the middle of the market place before he cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted with every last drop of breath. "Thief!" He pointed toward Naruto who whirled around at the shout and realizing what the boy was doing took off for all that he was worth.

He heared the footfalls of many people behind him and urge his legs to move faster and his body to dodge better and his eyes to watch where the hell he was going. Shopkeeper, vace, little puppy dog and girl, a surprised old man, a wheel barol; he passed them all and kept on going. He chose the smallest getaways possible in hopes that his persuers were particuler big. Luck decided to laugh one final time at him today and out of a doorway came a bucket of disgusting water to land on top of him and cause his crash to the ground. The woman who'd tossed the water looked at the child in horror and then started to babble out an apIt ology. But it was too late, the damage was done, the men were there and they immediately penned him to the ground. He felt rather than saw large hands grab him roughly and coughed out some of the disgusting water that made it into his mouth on the way down. As the men dragged him along the streets to were there law enforcement was located one single thought tickled its way into his thoughts. He was officially six and a half years old today. Life sucked.

It took them two days for them to decide he'd stolen some imaginary money some rich basterd claimed he'd lost when the child came near. Two days for them to decide that he must of dropped the money somewhere when he tried to escape. Two days to decide that he would be sentenced to a few months imprisoned in a prison thirty miles away. And one day were he had to march along side two men, one who'd raped a teenaged girl and the other who beat a worker in a bakery. The law enforcers had a difficult time finding chains small enough to fit him and a thing they called tags. They where circle metal pieces that created an irratating beeping noise and were worn around the kneck. The metal rubbed harshly against him and Naruto found himself touching the thing every dozen feet. The guards thought this was funny and liked to tug his chains every time he did this. He hated these guards, the prisoners were nicer in his opinion, not by much though. They glared at Naruto and he glared right back which actually earned a chuckle from one of them, otherwise the three prisoners did not talk.

The Kyuubi insisted on helping him but to both of their annoyance the 'tag' seemed to surpress all chakre. It made since, he was a 'prisoner' but the little six year old still pouted and cursed under his breath about basterds that pulled on chains too hard. Night fell as they reached their destination and he felt a chill run through his body as the large building came into view. Its metal gown seemed to be an instrument of the weather, every whim of nature played a note of gloom and despair that ripped across its side as if stroked by the most brutal of hands. Moonlight splashed across their path and would briefly illuminate a small door at the base of the building but it wasn't until they stood before it that he could see any details. Thick came to mind, and so did unbreakable, scary and uninviting. The guards smirked at him before they shoved him in after the other two.

Naruto nearly fell over and he heared a gasp escape his lips as his blue eyes widened to see everything at once. They'd been led to a large, understatement, an extremely large room that rose hundreds of feet above him. On every floor dozens of prisons stood, steel bars clanked and prisoners yelled, chains rustled the entire way up the sound a chill in Naruto's bones. What really got to him was the floor he stood on. Not solid ground but a platform that revealed more floors and from here came the worst of the screams.

One flight of stairs after another until he stood a good ten stories off the ground, the stairs and walkway seemed uncertain as if it were continplating wheather to suddenly drop him over the side or not. The metal felt cold beneath his feet and he closed his eyes hand on the rail to keep him balanced. The guards stopped at one of the prisons that appeared to be less filled than the others (an average of about eight in each cell and this one only holding four) and with dagger like eyes on the prisoners inside he slid the door open. A rough shove from behind sent Naruto to the ground and he felt a sharp pain shoot through his ankle as the manacles decided it would be easier to dig into his skin instead of the metal beneath them. Laughter sprung throughout the cell as he picked himself off but he wouldn't let them see that it hurt and instead placed a big smile on his face.

The clothes the Inuzukas gave him were gone replaced by a drab grey suit of clothes and still no shoes, lovely. He hung on to froggy like his life depended on it though and the guards deemed it too much work to extract it from the child. So it was that froggy found himself tied to Narutos waiste with a thick string he'd found in the bathroom to hold drying clothes. A few weeks passed before the first incident occured acting like a line of dominoes in Narutos short life of dissapointments. Always one bad thing after another without fail of another domino in sight to carry on it's legacy. He staid in his little corner of the cell and not moved, not an inch. All. Every. Single. One. Looked like they could skin him alive with just their eyes.

The tag dug into his skin repeatedly and after the weeks of wearing it a bloody scarred circle marked came to be around his kneck. He tugged at it and tried everything, he even ripped bits of his shirt off and rapped it around the color but the cloth only seemed to irriate the bloody scars even worse. The cuffs and manackles held the same results. The Kyuubi even commented that when he managed to get out of the prison he would not be able to make the scars go away completely, though he admitted this only out of respect for their imprisonment and torture methods, not as a weakness in his abilities as he reminded Naruto often. Of course it wasn't long beforer Naruto managed to get into trouble. The incident that started all his despair came from the most innocent time of the day, in Narutos opinion that is. Meal time. The food served reminded him of the mud but tasted even worse. Food was food though and Naruto ate every bite and refused to throw it back up even though his entire body screamed to do just that.

He'd begun to get up from his seat and nocked into a boy behind him of about ten years in age. The boy hit the floor, his plate banged against the metal ground and the kids food seeped through the holes to drop unceremonially to next floor. Before the rest of it fell through Naruto dropped to the ground in an attempt to salvage the plate and it's contents. The boy picked himself up from the ground and whirled on Naruto so quickly that the plate hit the ground for a second time as he threw himself to the side and into the mush. The boy flew to the table and bumped into it, disrupting many huge adult prisoners that dwarfed both children. "I'm Sorry!," Naruto cried out desperately. The boy paled and glared at Naruto for all he was worth that clearly spoke a promise of the near futute before taking off to the farthest end of the room. The men stood with dark glares at Naruto that sent him tripping his own feet backwards. Sheer panic seeped into every inch of his body as he realized the Kyuubi could not help him here.

The man closes to him smirked at the child and sent him sprawling several feet across the floor to slam against the wall. The boy wobbled to his feet, a large red mark across his face that revealed the point of contact. The next man hit Naruto hard in the stomache sending him to his knees and all the air out of his lungs. Tears came to Narutos eyes as the pain rolled over him, his blonde hair hiding his face from them all. "Brats like you need to be taught their place," he heared one of the men above him snear.

**Kit I think I can give you my sight without the use of chakre! Just hold on a few more seconds...**

Naruto let out a strangled cry as one of the men kicked him hard across the shoulder, his body little more than a rag doll, he felt pain that blackend his sight and a loud crack of somehting braking as he hit the wall with tremendous force. When he hit the ground he heared the Kyuubi say something, but was too disorintated to understand the meaning. He figured that it had to do with his 'sight' so he forced his eyes open and found a strange seen before him. The people seemed to be barely moving at all and he saw the men in more detail than ever before. Every wrinkle or drop of sweat was noticed by the boys eyes and every movement appeared as a well drawn map, revealing every intent of every person their. Oddly enough it all held a slight red tint but he supposed that it made since in consideration that everything about the Kyuubi was red.

Naruto took the time to take several breaths before he steadily got to his feet and moved out of the way as the men aimed more hits at the air he'd just occupied. Naruto watched as a look of confusion spread across thier faces and they slowly, very, very slowly turned around to see him. For some reason Naruto couldn't hear though, in fact, it seemed that none of his other sences were working at all. The mens faces once again changed expresions as they saw the eyes of their victim. Red as blood and slits that sent terror into every prisoner that saw them. Naruto watched as one man seemed braver than the others and again tried to attack him. However his movements appeared like a melting iceburg and Naruto easily slipped to the side, even though his body just wanted to sit on the floor and sleep there. The man stumbled and smacked his head hard on the ground as the target dissapeared and his momentum carried him a little too fast and his body was a little too slow to react to the change of the boys position.

To the other prisoners in the room it appeared that the boys eyes suddenly changed and the child began to move at incredible speeds, disappearing and reappearing until one of his attackers turned victim seemed to just fall unconcious at the boys hands and the others fled in fear. As the threat evaporated in the form of retreating backs the slits in Narutos eyes turned back to peaceful orbs and the blood red iris seeped away with only its ocean blue. The signal rang through the halls, alerting the guards that something was wrong. 'Lovely timing' Naruto thought to himself as his body slipped to the gound and a welcome darkness, 'would have been even lovlier five minutes ago.'

Naruto woke to darkness. The first thing he realized was that his should really, really hurt. The second took the form of four walls only about half a foot away from him in all directions, a solid floor (for once), and a barred ceiling that seemed covered by a leather like cloth. The last bit of realization was a combo of the first two. Damn... Solitary. He gotten thrown in solitary and they sometimes kept prisoners in it's confines from several days to several weeks depending on how bad the act the prisoner committed was. Solitary held a series of punishments that Naurto committed to memory the first few days in this hell whole and decided upon hearing them that he refused to find himself in that posistion. It seemed that once again the world sat before him with laughter upon its lips and hand on its head. The first day the prisoner went without food or water. The second day they just went without food. The third day they were awarded a single beam of light, wheather this was out of mercy or just to taunt the prisoners only the guards new, perhaps both. They got three meals after that but weren't aloud out until the punishment was delivered. On top of it all the tag, chains and manackle still clung to there usual spots, its metal pieces digging into his skin with every move he made.

**Kit?**

He moaned in reply.

**Good, your awake. **

Another groan answered this.

**The sight given to you is part of six senses that I possess.**

Naruto thought about this for a moment his pain and a killer headache making him a little slower than usual and realized that there was one more sense than existed.

'Don't you mean Five?'

**No, I mean six. There is sight of course. Then taste, touch, smell, hearing and aure.**

'Whats Aure?"

**Aure is the sence that allows you to see into a soul. Any soul. And sees the persons depth or core, personality, emotions, and strength; not just physically but mentally as well. This sense is held by all great spirits.**

'Oh' Naruto stated a little dumbfounded.

**From now on you may access any and all of my senses including the Aure sense. However I would not recomend trying all of them at once until you have the ability to deal with each individual.**

'Why couldn't I have my regular senses while I had your sight?'

**My senses are on a completely different level than a simple humans.** He said slightly annoyed with the childs lack of common sence and wished blissfully that he could convey his own large amount to the child like the six senses.

**They go beyond human senses so to simplify it for 'you' I'll just say that you also were beyond human senses while using mine. In a way your senses were replaced with my single sense because it overwhelmed them and thus could not be used at the time. **

'Oh' Naruto said again. 'Why can I use them without chakre?'

**Because I can use them without chakre and technically I just let you use my senses. It's not like a bloodline limit that you humans have but my actual senses. It would be like you having to use chakre just to see. **

'Oh' Naruto repeated.

**Stop that! Can't you say anything more intelligent than 'Oh'? **

'Uummm...'

**Forget it**

Thankfully Naruto had been unconcoius for most of the first day and didn't mind the lack of food or water. When finally he got his water on the second day he barely resisted the urge to gorge the whole thing. Instead he rationed the precious liquid to its last drops. All in all he spent six days in that rat hole and openly cried when the guards hauled him out. Since he'd barely lifted the chains in the time of lock up Naruto found them difficult to lift as the guards forced him up yet another set of stairs. Since the squad he'd been in seemed terrified of the boy and screamed bloody murder when he entered the cell again the guards agreed that, to save their ears for the remainder of thier shift, they would find a new cell to toss the boy in.

Naruto cringed for the fifteenth time, the light from every and all directions hurt his eyes, but the hurt definetly beet the dark hole any day. At that point he decided that orange would be his favorite color, the color of the sun and the brightest thing he could think of. The bars slid shut behind him and once again Naruto just wanted it all to be over. Though he admitted that he was unsure of what 'it' was exactly. Imprisonment? Or maybe... more like his Life. That seemed more accurate. He simply couldn't take it all any more. Pushing away all the hate, loneliness, despair and misery just to open his eyes each morning to find that absoluetly nothing changed. He was still alone, he was still without a real purpose to continue on and he was still the carrier of the Kyuubi. And sadly the last seemed to he the happiest about his life, their conversations not with warmth but without hate. And without hate seemed to be the best he could get.

A few more weeks past and Naruto found that he'd held the misfortune (as usual) to be placed in a cell with the creeps and scum of even this prison. A woman and four men. Naruto hated all of them, they did little more than scream and beat each other and each held a unique insanity about them. He would not wish such a punishment on any person, no matter what the crime. If he lived to see the outside of these walls he would smile every day of his life not matter what.

The woman seemed to be the most unpleasent of the lot and often Naruto would wake up to find the woman over him or she tried to beat him, he normally could avoid this with the fox sight, but the woman was faster than any of the other prisoners. Her knarled fingernails would dig into his arm and her crazed eyes, sunken into her worn leatherlike face, would stare at him hungrily. He would tug and scream and kick but she just would hold tighter and tighter until it felt as if his arm would brake. Sometimes she hit him hard over and over until he was still. Then she whispered about her crimes, each more horrible than the last. Murders Naruto would never in his life have imagined in his worst nightmares and at the end of each one she would look at him and wonder out loud how she could kill him. Then suddenly she would let him go and just walk away mumbling about ways to make it last a long, long time.

The biggest of the four men, stood at least six foot five and wore a long beard on his chin, just sat in the corner and watched the other prisoners go at each other until they were tired and then he would knock them around at his leisure. Naruto wanted to dissapear into the ground when the man came near the corner he staid at, on the opposite side of the cell. He wouldn't hit Naruto he would merely drag him over to the other prisoners and apparently just found it amusing to watch Naruto try to get out of his grasp as the man kept him there. 'Absoluetly insane,' Naruto thought each and every time, 'just plain insane.'

The smallest man walked on all fours for a start, if that didn't signal any red flags for Naruto then the fact that he spoke in such a garble of words that ended with foam coming from the mans mouth sure as hell did. He would come out of nowhere (which was extremely difficult when your all trapped in a prison) and suddenly scream from behind him or right beside him into his ear. Naruto repeatedly found himself upside down as the surprising strength of the man lifted him and would examine him before he would just drop him. Sometimes Naruto would wake up after the man decided it would be 'exciting' to toss the 'waste' bucket ontop of him.

The last wretch to win Narutos most hated list was a man who looked more like a pig. His nose pushed up, his eyes small and beady black and a round stomache to paint the picture perfect. Perfect isn't the right word though. If Naruto chose just one word to describe this man it would be 'greedy.' He violently faught over everything; the blankets, the water, the food, hell even the waste bucket. Naruto gave the man his blanket the very first night and hid his froggy deep in the depths of his pocket, never once taking it out for fear of losing the only gift ever given to him. He barely managed to get enough of his food to live before the man shoved him against the wall and stuffed his and Narutos food in his mouth before belching in the childs face with a nasty smirk playing on his lips. Naruto remembered once saying how he hoped the guards poisoned the food just loud enough for the man to hear. The pig slammed Naruto agaisnt the wall so hard that he immediately lost consiousness and stayed in that position for several days.

As each morinng came Naruto just closed his eyes once more and tried to ignore the others. Silence seemed to be more natural for him with each day that passed. Sometimes when he actual did speak he had difficulty now because of lack of use. He refused, however, to start talking to himself to get it back in use. He absolutely would not start talking ot himeself even if he lossed his voice forever and had to mime for the rest of his life. Which would probably be short any ways so it didn't matter either way. Even the thought of engaging one of 'them' in a conversation both terrified him and made him wonder if they could engage in a normal conversation at all. Every day brought the prospect of hitting his head against the wall until he bled to death a more intriguing thought. Hell could take notes on this place.

A week later news arrived to the prison that a group of fourteen prisoners would be moved to another, larger prison. Of course Naruto felt no surprise that their entire cell would be moved, the guards hated these guys as much as he did. At the moment even if they were going back to Konoha was a happy thought. They would be lead out of the prison by several dozen squads of guards. Their chains would be linked and if one of the prisoners died on the way the other prisoners would have to just drag them. Also they were given new clothes to match the new prison. However they did not have any thing small enough for Nalruto and had to cut it down to size. So he found himself wearing an extremely large blue shirt that barely sat on his shoulders and matching blue pants with a single black line running down its side, held up with yet another rope. And still after all this the tag and chains and manackles staid on.

In front of him stood the giant, in back of him stood the woman, and what do you know? He couldn't be any freakin happier. The giant dragged him when he even slowed down a little and the woman continued her long narrative of horrific murders. Happy as a fish in the middle of the desert I'm telling you! Naruto wanted to throw something at the Kyuubi as he heard the fox laugh every few minutes. Unlike Naruto, the fox very much enjoyed listening to the horrible woman describe in grim detail the accounts of her murders. Each twisted and sicker than the last, testing Narutos ability to keep his lunch from visiting him again.

Five days of this! The'd been on the road for five days and the woman rarely shut up. Naruto said nothing, instead he chose to look strait ahead and as the woman went into further detail on how she'd stripped a child of its skin before trying it on herself, he closed his eyes and hummed a tone he'd heared the Hokage hum on his walks. His little voice carried over the womans and thankfully blocked her out almost entirely. A few hours passed and Naruto began many different tunes that he only half knew if only to try to ignore the world around him. Night fell and the guards made camp with big bonfires to warm all. Well technically they were meant to warm the guards not the prisoners but to warm one meant to warm the other.

Naruto huddled by the fire absorbing the first real warmth he'd had in a few months. Thats when he first noticed it. Two distinct groups had formed without him the wiser. Prisoners and Guards, one on the left of the field and one on the right with lookouts of the guards being the only ones to mingle. Shit. At the moment of realization Naruto was grabbed from behind. "Hello sweet heart,' the woman said softly, "I've got a special surprise for you." A long piece of glass shimmered in the moonlight as it hung above his struggling form. She sighed in his ear and a glazed look overcame her eyes. "I've been thinking about your wonderful death for a while now and I think I've finally have it," she said her body shivering with excitement, "I'm going to let you bleed lots of wonderful tears by carving out your beautiful blue eyes to make earrings out of and I'll use your intestines as a knecklace."

The piece of glass found its way to Narutos throat and a trail of blood began to ooze as she dug a little deeper with each inch. Naruto screamed in pain and to his horror the giant stood up and came over, amusement the only emotion he displayed. The little six year old kicked and screamed and yelled but the guards not once looked his way. The woman who held him captive hissed at the giant as the chains clanked against the ground. "The boy is my prey, mine, not yours!" The woman screamed, the piece of glass sinking deeper into his cheek. The giant bent down and looked directly into the eyes of the glaring woman. "Lets carve his face up first and then you can take his eyes out," the giant said eagerly. With that Naruto cracked his voice screaming so loud. "NOOOOO," the woman screamed backing away, "I want his crimson tears and the knecklace and the pretty earrings! I want it all to myself and I want to kill him myself. I want to see the life go out of his pretty blue eyesssss!"

Naruto screamed in agony as the piece of glass ripped upwards and into his right eye. The woman dropped him to the ground screaming at the giant for ruining her fun. Not wanting to think about what he had to do Naruto's hands immediately found and ripped the piece of glass out and he whimpered in pain as the piece dropped to the ground. He didn't want to argue any more, he didn't want to hurt anymore, he didn't want to have to feel this emptiness anymore or the pain and suffering. He let the Kyuubi have all of everything, he didn't want to fight the world anymore, he just wanted to sleep and feel no pain. And so Naruto drifted down into the darkness and allowed its harsh arms to rap around him and consume him completely.

The Kyuubi screamed in fury and took every bit of chakre he had and shoved it out of the boy, the chains and tag instantly burned away into ash, the prisoners screamed and the guards screamed as a violent chakre ripped their bodies apart and burned them beyond recognition. The entire area erupted in a burst of red that killed every animal and plant within five miles of the place. The ground became nothing more than a wasteland and a crater several thousand feet wide and a few hundred feet deep formed with burned bloody bodies half hidden and half sticking out. Thirteen prisoners and dozens of squads of guards. The Kyuubi smiled as it looked upon the seen and then slowly receeded back, leaving a small blonde child at its center, barely breathing and in great pain. Ever so slowly though the burns that covered every inch of his body healed. The bloody wounds the tags, chains and manackles made healed leaving behind its mark in the form of scars where the metal had melted agaisnt the sking before evapoarting like water. Finally the Kyuunbi healed the childs eye until not even a scar showed. The only remembrence of it the Kyuubi would break to the child himself.

Everything hurt. Pain shot from every part of his body and movement of any kind sent sharp dagger like pain to rip through him. So he just lay there, his breath shallow and his eyes closed without any strength to move whatsoever. The sun seemed to be up all ready and Naruto begged it to leave him alone, its rays pounded against his eyelids irritating his skin. It felt as if he burned everywhere, like a candle just sat against his skin but no matter how hard he tried to move or tried to figure out where he was nothing happened, not a single memory came to mind. It took several hours just to sit up and still he found he couldn't open his eyes. They seemed to be closed with a sticky substance and Naruto slowly clawed at it. After another half an hour he finally managed to tear it all off and open his eyes slightly.

Blood. Dried blood all over his hands and it was also what kept his eyes shut. Naruto tried not to scream in pain as he forced his eyes all the way open. Suddenly he bent over and puked until there was nothing left, he didn't try to stop it this time. His entire body shook in shock and he closed his eyes again. "No, no, no." Naruto screamed into the ground. Dozens and dozens of people surrounded him, but they didn't care, they didn't move or turn, they just staired becuase thats all they could do. Naruto sat in a field surrounded by burnt dead bodies, most half barried in the ground. He looked down at himself and found that his entire body was covered in blood, his clothes clung with it and the blood on his skin cracked open with his movements like an extra layer of skin.

Several feet away the woman and the giant lay side by side, their bodies black and barely recognizable. Naruto looked to their left and saw something that vaguely resembled the pig man and the lunatic. He'd never been with any of the many others long enough to recognize them. He couldn't stay here, he couldn't bare to look at it all any longer. Naruto tried to get to his feet but cullapsed before he even pulled himself up to his knees. The attempt sent another wave of pain through his body. He tried to swallow but his throat felt raw and dry and even to breath seemed to take every ounce of his power. Did he survive and wake up in the middle of this just to die a slow death?

"Damn it!" Naruto screamed and then fell into a fit of coughing that sent blood seeping onto his lips. Naruto dragged himself to the edge of the pit he'd woken up in and gritted his teeth as he pulled himself out of the hole. The gruesome sight seemed worse as he got a look at the entire area. There was nothing. Miles of nothing. Beyond the dead bodies all around him there was absolutely nothing. No grass or trees or rock... just bare ground. The dirt appeared to be freshly upheveled. "What the hell happened?" He whispered. What was the last thing he remebered? He'd been traveling along the road, to be transported to a new prison. His chains and tag were gone. They'd stopped somewhere... Why couldn't he remember?

Three more times Naruto attempted to stand and three more times he fell to the ground. The third time he slipt to the left and tappled over one of the dead bodies. Naruto's hand landed on the mans face and Naruto cringed as he felt some of his flesh come off when he shoved himself away. The smell was putred, worse than anything he'd ever come in contact with. What would he do? Could he really drag himself all that way when he couldn't even stand? Naruto knew better than to even consider help coming. It was a stupid wasteless thought. Even if someone did come they'd more likely kill him than help.

If it was a quick death Naruto wouldn't even bother. He would have happily stayed there and died, but he knew that what he would face would be nothing but slow. He knew exactly how long he could last without food or water from experience, at least three days. His body didn't appear to have any open wounds which meant all damage was inside and those sucked the worsed. At the prison he remembered the adults constantly talk about the different ways a person could die, they seemed to be particularly found of death by the needly because it was quick. Somehow he didn't think he'd find one here.

Something was wrong though. His eye sight seemed off, not like while he used fox sight, but as if a hunk of his sight was missing. He could see fine, it was precise and the colors sharp as always but what he saw seemed to be... the best way he could describe it only half there. Like a blanket over his right eye or something. Both his eyes were wide open but for some reason he couldn't see out of his right eye. Maybe he had blood in it? Naruto layed down, closed his eyes once more and seeped into the prison room.

'Kyuubi?'

Naruto peered into the cage to see that the Kyuubi appeared to be sleeping. His form moved up and down slowly.

'Kyuubi?'

**In a bit Kit. Just let me sleep.**

Naruto nodded and when on the outside he too fell into unconciousness.

Chapter 5 Jinchuuriki

When he once more woke up he and the Kyuubi came up with a some what successful way to move, though the Kyuubi told him he would explain what happened later. Naruto was dismaid to find out that he'd lost his sight in his right eye altogether. The damage completly destroyed his eye and the Kyuubi had to use a great deal of chakre just to save the eye and leave no scars. Every step hurt horribly. The Kyuubi fueld his already chakre burnt legs with more, forcing them to move. Tears ran down his face as the pain grew overwhelming but he forced himself on, if he stopped again he would probably die. Three days he traveled like this, his body healed slowly and the fact that he had to continue moving through the use of chakre slowed down the process even more.

On the third day he managed to find a stream and fell head first into its depth. The cold water cooled his burnt skin and relief flooded through him as the chakre ceased its path through his legs chakre system. When he resurfaced for air he did it reluctantly, not wanting to move at all. His hands and clothes stained red sent swirls of blood around his body as it all washed off him with the water that gently lapped against him. He painfully tugged off his clothes, the motion forcing large areas of dried blood to rip off his skin, and let the clothes sink to the bottom, froggy still in the pocket. He submerged again and tried to rinse out all the blood in his hair but for all his efforts it still held a tint of red and his hands came up with clumps of dried blood and pieces of flesh. He shuddered as he let it drift away. The images replayed over and over again, the bodies and blood, the smell of burnt flesh, but the worst thing were the eyes. How most still stood open, glazed over and seemed to stare right in his direction as if they all blamed him for their deaths.

The Kyuubi still wouldn't say anything to him about what happened and he was too tired, too hungry and hurt too much to ask. He rung out his clothes and placed them on a nearby boulder to let them dry, then returned to the water. He'd eaten nothing in the last three days and knew he was in trouble. A rain came on the second day so he'd been able to get enough water but another day without food and he'd be dead. Another problem that came up was his sight, he'd fallen over numerous times the last few days because he'd not seen something in his path to the right. He would definetly need much more practice if he expected to be able to do a job in towns like before. However, this time he would have to steal for his food if he didn't find anything on the side of the road before the next town.

He didn't bother to let his clothes dry all the way. Instead he put them on and waided right back into the water. He would travel down the stream because that would be the easiest way to find a town. And he figured that if he was going to travel along the stream it might as well be in the stream. Much easier to walk for him and best of all he didn't have to use any chakre to do it. It may have been a small stream but to a six year old it reached up a little past his chest and practically carried him.

A few hours past by before the first town came into view and by then his clothes were pretty much blood free. His hair came to be a problem though so he ripped a good deal of the bottom off his shirt and rapped it around his head. As usual he used dirt to cover his whisker marks. He toar the bottom part of his pants up all the way to his knees and rapped the pieces around his feet expertly. Hard callases covered both feet and he hoped that and the extra cloth would keep them from bleeding again. He made his way into the town catiously, not sure if the people heared the news of what happened to the prisoners and guards yet. He didn't think anyone would be on the look out for him but it would be better to be safe than sorry. Hopefully any one who inspected the site would assume him dead and not look into it any further. He knew that technically speaking he only had about half a month left and that no one would care about a simple thief (even though he hadn't stole anything).

His stomache clenched in pain and Naruto bit his lip hard to keep quiet as he moved through the streets. Ideas and thoughts entered and left as he tried to figure out the easiest way to attain food. He listened to the people talk and gossip and found out from a couple of woman hanging loundry that he stood in the land of lightning. He remembered going through some large gates while with the prisoners but had no idea he'd passed through the border line of a nation. He stood there a little shocked from that news before he moved on. The town appeared simple with some shops, a market, apartment buildings and inns. No one looked at him unless they bumped into him and even then only a slight glance. This fact would make it a lot easier to steal some food and he would probably be able to stay a few weeks before moving on. Naruto weaved in and out of the crowds until finally he spotted his target.

A man walked passed a bread shop with the baker at the door, as Naruto watched, a single piece of bread was knocked into slightly as the man passed. Naruto casually walked towards the shop and as the man moved in the way of the bakers view he slid passed the shelf, the piece of bread safely tucked under his shirt. The most improtant thing to remember was to stay completely calm and not rush your escape, not even a little. As long as you followed those two rules the one you stole from would not notice the dissapearence until later, sometimes not at all. When he stood five blocks away Naruto turned down an alley and hid behind several trash bens.

He ate the bread quickly and thankfully his stomache stopped eating itself away. Night would fall soon and unlike the last town he'd been in it hosted no all night restaurants and no covers over the shops. The wind would be brutal tonight, he felt it in the air. If he didn't find somewhere warm to sleep he'd end up with the cold in his bones again. When the cold seeped into your bones it took days to warm your body back up, every one on the street knew this and tried to avoid it as much as possible. Finally he found a place a little outside of the town. Large boulders that held the towns sign, 'Welcome to Hainstil,' obviously placed there long ago. A small space revealed itself to him, just under the great rocks. Night fell quickly and Naruto slipt into his usual nightmares that reminded him each morning what lay ahead.

Seven days passed Naruto stood in the same town as before, but this time instead of a stolen meal he ate a bought one with the money he'd earned at one of the inns. He cleaned ten rooms, his eyes still burned slightly from the cleaners he'd used but he'd earned enough money to pay for four days worth of meals. Sadly what lay in front of him was the last of the money. The good thing was that he'd already found another big job that would pay well. He would meet a man tonight at one of the shops, a place that sold perfumes he thought. His job would be to carry all the supplies from the wagons into the back of his shop, he wouldn't go ti'll tonight because the wagons wouldn't arrive until then. Naruto was determined not to get ripped off again like the last time he'd moved supplies. The man had looked at him oddly when he'd requested that he be paid half his money up front when he arrived and the other half when he was half way down. Naruto thought this reasonable since the man would be right there the whole time unloading the supplies as well and writing down the supplies numbers. After all if Naruto tried to run with the money the man could easily over power him and take it back. As for the man taking the money back even if Naruto did all the work, well that just came with the risk of every day.

As Naruto stuffed the cresent role into his mouth he listened to the people talk from his position on a bench outside a shop. He couldn't help an excitement drive down his spine as they talked about a caravan that planned to stop in the town in a few days. The caravan was supposed to be big, with entertainment, trade, performances and games. People had begun to arrive in large numbers as the day grew closer. The caravan would stay for about two weekds timeh before moving on. Guiltily Naruto knew that the only real reason he was still in the town was to see the caravan. People were beginning to recognize him as a street rat and that was dangerous. He'd never seen a caravan before though and knew he probably wouldn't get the opportunity again.

When night seeped over the horizon and the sun slipt under the earths blanket Naruto found his way to the shop. The man gave him the money which he placed inside his froggy and the two began to move boxes of all shapes and sizes from the wagons. Many of the boxes held glass pieces and Naruto was forced to move slowly as to not brake anything. Another annoyance came with the weight. Each one seemed just a little heavier than the last. Two hours late hours later Naruto came to the last box in the first wagon of three. Medium sized Naruto carefully pulled it out and dragged it inside. The time read about nine and Naruto groaned as he realized that he probably wouldn't be done unytil about four in the morning. He didn't let the man know he was tired though, he might change his mind and chose someone stronger to do the job. So with that he walked back outside and started on the secound wagon.

Five o clock in the morning and Naruto finally, FINALLY, pulled the last box into the shop. Sweat poured from every pore and each breath came with some difficulty. He leaned against the boxes and his stupid eyelids tried to close on him for the sixteenth time. He forced himself up again though and made his way outside one more time. The man looked down at him and thanked him for the help. He nodded and already having been paid he made his way through the streets to the boulders. His hands bled and his body hurt but he happily thought about all the meals he would be able to get and maybe, just maybe a pair of shoes.

The caravan arrived half a day late but when they did every person for miles knew. They came loud and laughing with many, as the name would suggest, caravans that held poeple and things stuffed inside. Naruto climbed onto one of the roofs and watched them pass by. He even used the fox sight to get a better look, he'd been practicing with the different sences but hadn't touched the Aure one yet and didn't intend to until he held a good grasp on the others first. Tonight Kyuubi promised him that he would explain what happened 'that night' after Naruto'd bugged him for the last few days. He couldn't shake this horrible feeling and knew the Kyuubi enough that the old fox was hiding what happened for his own gain. That only made him more nervous. Naruto knew he was young but that didn't make him stupid, he was well aware that the Kyuubi couldn't be trusted. The Kyuubi helped him only because of the link of thier life lines. After all, Naruto would have happily died before now if it weren't for the fox.

He smiled none the less as he watched jugglers and acrobats make their way on by. The caravan would camp on the other side of town and set up everything there as well. It took a total of two days for them to set up camp and the festivities began that second night. Naruto took a job on to wash clothes for a woman that got him a warm meal without him having to spen any of his money so when that night came his froggy lay happy and full at the bottom of his pocket and he walked through the large caravan with delight. He knew he would only buy a pair of shoes but to look at the pretty things and watch the jolly traders made him feel warm. Most of the shoes were too expensive for him while the rest stood too big or held some other problem for him being unable to get them. He became sligtly disheartened as the search stretched into a few hours and the caravan began to pack up for the night. All the shops in the town were just too expensive and Naruto had hoped, desperately hoped, that the caravan would be an easier way to get a pair.

He sighed and ended buying some strips of leather instead. He undid the cloth and tied the pieces to the bottom of his foot with it. They weren't shoes but they would have to do, meals came first no matter what. He spent the remainder of the time the caravan sat open on the edge of a performance by some acrobats. He didn't pay to watch so his view was from outside the ring and therefore not very good. He activated the fox sight and saw them a bit better, however, the sight wasn't really meant to see things far away but more to see great detail and movements, the fox said he'd even be able to notice if food or water were poisened when he finally mastered the ablility to use his senses.

Naruto made his way to the boulders and when his form lay comfortably on the ground he closed his eyes and dived into the depths of the prison room. The large fox eyed him wearily and let out a breath that felt more like a gust of wind to the small child. His large head lay upon his front paws and his ears twitched irratably.

**You don't have to know what happened.**

'But I want to.'

**Your not going to like the answer.**

'I know I won't, but I still have to know.'

**Fine.**

'Well.'

**I killed them all, they tried to kill you so to stop them, I threw a large burst of chakre that basically burnt them all alive. **

Naruto fell to the floor, his body shuddered and every nerve in his body begged him to puke. Tears came to his eyes as he realized the full enormity of it. He'd thought that perhaps the group had been ambushed and that because of the Kyuubi he'd survived. The thought that the Kyuubi'd taken over his body and killed them all... He puked onto the ground and stayed there for several minutes as the puke mixed with the water on the prison floor. Those people, the prisoners and the guards all, the Kyuubi killed them and that meant that he'd killed them. The Kyuubi used his body to kill them. Naruto sobbed long and hard, even more than when the shinobe'd beaten him, more than when he'd almost starved and his stomache had been eating away at his insides. An incredible guilt filled him and he could barely move with its wieght crushing him. He hated them but the thought that he'd killed them felt like a knife gently knodging his insides.

**I told you, you wouldn't like it. You are too soft.**

'How could you have killed ALL of them... The guards wouldn't have attacked me...'

**The suppression tag was very annoying. I had to use a large amount of chakre to destroy it so I could save you. I would have killed half of them anyways and then they would have attacked you and I would have ended up killing them any ways so I just went ahead and killed them in one shot. **

'The place was destroyed for miles...'

**I haven't used my chakre in large amounts in almost seven years so I overshot it all a bit.**

'A bit..' Naruto whispered in horror.

'You killed all those people and wiped out that place and its just a little overshot?'

**Don't act so surprised Kit, I am the Kyuubi. You don't seem to understand that a few humans mean nothing to me. I HAVE KILLED THOUSANDS! **

Naruto bent over and puked again. There was a big difference between hearing someone tell you that they've killed and seeing it for yourself. Naruto left the prison room and refused to speak with the Kyuubi.

The money was gone, a week passed by and Naruto found no work because of the caravan. They stole every little job available and Naruto began to panic as he realized the next town along the road stood four days away. If he didn't find a job he would be in trouble, again. Damn him and his stupid, stupid curiosity. Why couldn't he just leave when the caravan arrived? He looked for hours and asked tons of people, almost every shop, inn, stand and anything else possibly someone could get work at. His stomache growled at him in irratation and Naruto wanted nothing better than make it happy but no chance presented itself. Damn it! He did not want to steal again, he hated stealing.

He walked through the crowds and listened closely to the conversations that took place near him. He'd found that the easiest way to gather information was to pass by the places where people gathered to eat and drink. People seemed to enjoy to talk the most when they were with friends. He lottered outside one particular place that served soup of all kinds. Inside a man talked to two woman about how the sales of his silks sold and bragged about the money it brought in. Nothing, darn.

Two days later Naruto sat beneath a tree by the stream he'd arrived in and drank deeply in hopes that his hands would stop shaking. The Kyuubi automatically boiled the water for him even though Naruto still refused to talk to him. He got up a bit too quickly and found black spots in front of his good eye. He closed both of them and took slow steady breaths, then truned and made his way into the town. He stopped at the first trash bin he saw and grimly began to push things aside but in the end found nothing eatible. The next two were the same. The next one he came to held a rotting apple in it that already was half eaten. He resist the erge to drop it and finished it in a few bites, he came close to puking but forced it all down. Naruto found nothing in the next four bins.

Thats when the smell caught his nose. Such a wonderful, food filled smell. Naruto wondered over to were the smell came from and saw an old man inside one of the larger restaurants of the town. He could tell immediately that the old man came from the caravans because the man wore sturdy travel clothes loaded with items on his person. For some reason the people of the caravan wore a great deal of things on them. In front of the man lay a hearty meal of rice, mash potatoes, soup of some sort and a large stake. Naruto's mouth water as the sight slightly dissapeared behind the black spots that refused to go away. Beside the man a large bag sat, filled to overflowing, and on the side that faced Naruto coinsc could be seen. If he could just get a hold of a few of those he could get enough to eat so as to not pass out in the next hour or so.

Naruto moved quietly into the restaurant, his small figure always positioned behind an object or in the shadows. His feet made not a sound and his breath slowed to a steady pattern that most people wouldn't even be able to hear. From the prison and his time on the streets, not to mention all the times he'd hidden from the villagers caused him to move with stealth and a nibbleness that few shinobe could compete with. His small frame also helped a great deal. The old man continued on with his meal with no clue of Naruto's presence and he made one last move to a position behind a large fern just a few feet from the bag. Here he nelt down even further and moved in. Naruto reached into the bag and his hand grasped just a couple of the coins, he would take no more from the old man than was absolutely neccesary. As his hand slipped out carefully from the bag a large hand gripped it. Shit.

Naruto immediately began to struggle with all his might, which at the moment was a pathetic might. He refused to go back to a prison, he would not go even if he had to kill himself. He would never go back to that Hell, NEVER. The grip stayed firmly around his wrist and Naruto felt the darkness grow worse with each moment. The Kyuubi yelled something at him but he ignored it. He yanked and pulled and began to cry as he realized that no matter what he did whoever held him would not let go. From exhausten and hunger he collapsed to his knees and tugged with all his worth. He thought that his captor was saying something but wasn't sure what it was and didn't care. It could be nothing good. He felt the last of his concious leave him and his sight completely went black.

Kudzu sat before his first warm meal all week with a determination to devour every bite even if his stomache hurt for the next few days. He felt the presence the moment it entered into the restaurant like he did every presence, the thing that caught his attention however was the weak life force this particular one seem to give off. A retired shinobe, he knew quite well how to sense a chakre signiture as well as how much life force a person held. This one seemed to be not only barely there but also heading in his direction. He allowed the force to reach into his bag and then grabbed the person. Shock filled him as what he grabbed seemed unnaturally small. He looked down and saw a struggling child, he'd thought it would have been a begger or something along those lines, not a child. "Hay there, I'm not going to hurt you..." He stopped as he realized the child wasn't listening but instead seemed to struggle even harder. Tears ran down the kids cheeks and he knelt down on the ground without letting the kid loose. "Hay calm down now," He said in a soothing voice.

Then the kid fell to his knees and Kudzu barely caught the child as he collapsed. "What the hell?" He said as he realized the kid weighed almost nothing. He checked the kids pulse and realized it was fading fast. He picked the kid up gently but quickly and made his way as fast as he could to the caravan. A medical specialist named Sianne, he knew, would be at the back of the tents set up. She would have her own special wagon, for their people injured or sick. He rushed into the area and found the woman at one of the fire pits. "Sianne! I need your help! Immediately!" Kudzu called out allowing a bit of panic to slip into his voice to show her just how urgent the situation stood.

The woman came over quickly and gasped as she saw the child in his arms. She ushered him into her wagon and motioned for him to put the child onto the operating table. Her hands turned a greenish tinged chakre as she made her way over the boys body. Horror rippled across her face with every inch. "This child..." She whispered, but she immediately snapped out of it and began to order Kudzu to hand her different types of surgical equipment. After an hour and a half they both sat back, sweat covered their faces and the adrenalin began to seep away. The two gazed at the boy who lay on the cold table, a tube in his vein that supplied blood and two in his mouth that supplied fluids of food with an oxygen mask over that to help the child breathe. He also had several bandages all over his body, mainly his abdominal, feet and legs. The boys shirt lay discarded along with the raps that covered brown hair. A strange mark was on the boys stomache before Sianne rapped it in bandages and Kudzu vaguely recognized it as a seal of some type.

Kudzu described what happened at the restaurant while Sianne listened carefully. She nodded and sighed deeply. "Will he be alright Sianne?" Kudzu asked. "Its difficult to say, this child... The most obvious thing would be that he's starved. The strange thing though are the chakre burns and the general chakre exhaustion." Kudzu looked at the woman deeply surprised at this and then nodded to tell her to continue. "The chakre burns are horrible, all along his body but the worst is his stomache and legs. Its as if he suddenly let out more chakre than his system could take from every place on his body at once, the source appears to be that mark on his stomache. His hands also have chakre burns that are far less than his legs but worse than the rest of his body. The legs and hands appear to be worse because of continues use while his body suffered from chakre exhaustion and the chakre burns. The boy has scars around his kneck, ankles and wrists and his feet have deep cuts every where. Also he's blind in his right eye." Sianne finished with a grim expression. "This child should not be alive right now."

Kudzu looked at the boy and pushed his hand through his hair. "How can this be?" He asked her. Sianne looked him square in the eye and then at the boy. "What ever is on his stomache, I believe at least, is the key to that answer." She said wearily, "It will be several months before he's well again if he doesn't die in the next few days." Kudzu moved over to the table and sat on the stool beside it. "How old do you think he is?" Kudzu asked as he watched the boys chest rise and fall slowly as if unsure of what would happen next. One of the childs hands began to slip off the table but before it fell all the way Kudzu caught it and set it comfortably on the boy's side. "I'd guess about five, five and a half maybe," Sianne replied. "Abby's lonely, hanging around with only us adults all day... What do you think she'd think if I decided to have a little kid join our group?" Kudzu asked softly. Sianne smiled. "I think she'd like that a lot."

Naruto awoke daze and surprisingly feeling much better than before. Perhaps sleep was all he nee... Wait, what did he have over his mouth? Where was he? Naruto slowly opened his eyes to find that a thick warm blanket lay over him and he felt tempted to just go to sleep and enjoy the warmth while it lasted, but he'd learned long ago that to leave the unknown alone for too long would mean unimaginable pain in the near future. So instead of drifting off to wonderful sleep he looked around him. The first thing he saw was that he had several tubelike things connected to him which he definetly did not like. The second was a mask over his mouth and nose, well he didn't really see it but more like felt it. The third was that he was in a small room of some sort that for some reason felt like it moved. Naruto blamed this entirely on the fact that he felt dazed though and ignored it.

Wooden cabinets stood high above him and a long metal table sat besside counters that streched the full length of the room. He turned his head to get a better view since his right eye was the one that faced everything, typical. The movement was painful but supplied a much better sight of everything. His tubes lead to two different bags, one with blood in it and the other to a blueish greenish looking liquid. He lay on a small bed, a nice, warm, comfortable bed. Naruto decided that there was no immediate danger and that his body couldn't move even if he wanted it too, so he allowed darkness to overtake him again.

The next time he woke he was not alone. Naruto jumped in surprise and paniced a bit when he realized that the person next to him was the same old man he'd tried to steal money from. Naruto tried to get up but the man firmly kept him on the bed. "Your still far too weak to attempt to sit up lad," Kudzu said. With his good eye Naruto took in his features for the first time. The man might have been old but he also wasn't weak, he possessed well toned muscles and a sturdy body. A light grey beared but no mustache and a smile that crept all the way to his green eyes that twinkled with humor and kindness. He still wore the travel clothes, which basically was made up of black pants, a white shirt and green vest that lay open. He noticed that while Naruto scrutinized the old man before him the old man also appeared to be observing him as well.

"You've been out of it for a good week and a half lad," Kudzu said matter of factly. Naruto's eyes widened at the information and Kudzu noted that the childs right eye seemed to be a bit unfocused but because it moved in the same direction as his left it seemed as if he saw through it. If Kudzu didn't know the boy was blind in his right eye he wouldn't have noticed at all. Naruto thought over that little bit of information for a moment and wondered how the man was still in the town considering the caravan was suppose to leave after two weeks, which meant a few days ago. "My name is Kudzu, I am a traveler with the caravan, a trader and entertainer. My trade is maps and books, along with other trinkets here and there. As for my bussiness in entertainment, well you'll see," Kudzu said his hands moving along with his words. Kudzu noted that the child watched him with a weary eye, as if he expected him to grow an extra head at any point in time and attack him. "Look lad, I'm not gonna hurt you and as for the fact that you tried to steal a bit o coin from me, I got too much of it as is..." Kudzu said with a laugh. That wasn't neccesarily all true but it would help to set the kid at ease at least. Unfortunetly it held little effect and the kid still looked at him catiously. Didn't even crack a smile, does the kid even know how to?

It would take quite a while to get this kid to trust him, he thought grimly, seems like he's been through hell several times over. He'd get the kid to laugh... Eventually. Kudzu brightened as he remebered the things he'd brought for the kid. He pulled out a large bowl of stew and watched as the kid eyed the food with look of want that made the man sad. How long, he wondered, had it been since anyone gave the kid a hot meal? "Well I have a bit more stew left than I thought when I made the stew tonight and Sianne said you'd probably wake up soon so I thought I'd bring it over. I kept it warm for you since you decided to keep me waiting and sleep a while longer." Kudzu said, a large smile on his face. The kid looked from him to the bowl, not comprehending what that the man was actaully giving him food, for free.

Naruto tried to speak but his throat wouldn't let any words come out. Why would the old man give him food for free? There had to be a trick to it. He tried again to speak but to the same results. "I wouldn't push yourself too much, if you can't talk you can't talk. And I know you can't lift your arms so just let me feed you. K?" Naruto nodded slowly and knew he'd just have to deal with the consequences of what the old ma... Kudzu wanted later. Kudzu helped him into a sitting position and Naruto ate quickly to the thought that this was still a trick. He didn't think the food poisoned or else the man could have just let him die, maybe drugged it perhaps but his stomache hurt too much to care much about that.

"If you can't talk than I'll just talk enough for the both of us, how does that sound, Eh?" Kudzu asked. The boy nodded. "Well were heading towards a place called Revtin, about another twenty miles away, we should be there in about two days..." The boy looked startled to hear this and looked around wildly until he spotted the little window in the door. The man watched him go from calm to full fledged panic in the span of a few seconds as he watched the scenery go by. The boy tried desperately to get up but Kudzu held him down and would not allow him up.

He strained and felt his body protest but he would not go back to a prison. Why would this man keep him alive only to bring him to a prison. Naruto would sooner die than go back. "Calm down lad your gonna hurt yourself, what on earth is wrong?" Kudzu asked his arm across the boys chest. The boy whispered something hoarsely and Kudzu had to lean down almost to the point were he lay on top of him to hear him. "Please don't take me back to a prison I swear I'll do anything... " The kid started to cry and struggle even more. Kudzu stared at him in shock, who would actually send a child so young to a prison? "Relax lad, I promise I'm not taking you to a prison." Kudzu spoke reassuringly to him. He stroked the kids head and repeated his words until he calmed down and stopped struggling.

The child shook under his touch and not surprisingly he fell asleep from the strain he'd placed on his body from his struggle. What the hell could have happened to him? His visit only intensified his resolution to make sure the kid would be safe from this moment on. He would not allow anyone to touch him. He'd told Abby about the boy and how they would be taking care of him but he'd refused to let her see him. He didn't want her to see the abused child until he was at least some what better. The sight broke his heart and he knew that Abby wouldn't be able to handle it.

The next time Naruto woke he was much calmer. He found two people beside him, a woman who stood beside him and checked all the instruments over and the same old man, Kudzu. The woman held a sea of green hair in a bun and smiled down at him warmly. She appeared middle aged and wore the same type of travel clothes on except for the red cross symbol on her shoulder. Her eyes were a deep and peaceful grey, her lips thin and a small nose that twiched every time she peered down at him. "Well looky here, our little sleepy head is finally awake," the woman proclaimed hands on hips. Naruto sat up which was, much to his surprise, much easier than last time. He even managed to do it all by himself this time. The woman peered at him with curiousity and looked over towards Kudzu. "Its absolutely remarkable, I've never in all my days seen a child heal so quickly," The woman said happily.

Naruto noticed that the tubes he'd been connected to were gone and that he could pick his arms up fairly easily. "Now for a nice bath!" The woman said happily. Naruto tried to protest but his throat still wouldn't do as he asked. "I'll carry you there since you obaviously can't walk yet," Kudzu said to him standing up. Kudzu lifted him up and carried him into the town their caravan stopped at for the moment to replenish. The place didn't hold many places other than houses but they did possess a nice bath house. The child seemed to be very nervous at the prospect of a bath which made Kudzu smile. At least he held some tendencies of a child, he thought to himself. They'd scrubbed the kid with a sponge but the dirt and grime had just been there for too long, it would take lots of hot water and a large amount of soap to get it all off.

Kudzu gently slipped the child into the water and the poor thing sat there dejectedly as he scrubbed his hair. To his utter amazement he found the child to have blonde hair, not brown. The wet hair slid into the boys eyes but he staid stock still as if terrified to make a move. The hot water did it's work as brown skin turned a peach color. The trouble started when Kudzu tried to clean the boys face though. He'd raised his hands to his face and refused to let him wash it. Kudzu had to forcibly move the childs arms and bit by bit clean the grime from his face. When he finished he saw what the boy tried so desperately to hide. Three whisker marks on each of his cheeks. Realization hit the man as he put the pieces together. Marks + Seal + Scars = Jinchuuriki.

Several things clicked together for him. He didn't say anything, just continued to erase off all the grime like he'd noticed nothing while the child seemed to calm down a bit but still looked like he'd wanted to bolt as quickly as possible. He'd learned of Jinchuuriki from a friend within Suna, the brother of the 'Siblings.' Supposebly all the great nations and a few minor nations tried to create a weapon with human sacrifices and the Biju. All Jinchuuriki held two things to identify them; the first was the seal on the their stomaches that revealed itself when the host was injured or they used chakre, the second was that each of the Jinchuuriki held marks on their faces of some kind or some other distinked inhuman feature. The scars, he guessed, came from people who hated Jinchuuriki.

If this were all true then it would be far harder to gain the childs trust than what he first imagined. He would pretend to be ignorant for now but he would tell the child eventually and he absolutely would not allow ANYONE to hurt him. The only question that remained was where exactly he'd come from and which of the Biju he held. He knew the Jinchuuriki in Suna had red hair and possessed the Shukaku, hmm, that left only seven others to consider. This will take a lot of research and information gathering. Besides how to identify a Jinchuuriki he really didn't know much about them and if he wanted to help the kid he knew he would need more information. This could take a while... Sigh. The kid definetly didn't look like he was up for spilling his guts to him, that was for sure, if anything he looked terrified just because he'd seen the marks on his face. He couldn't even begin to imagine what they must have done to him. He did know that Jinchuuriki were feared and hated, no wonder he'd been in such a state.

A man came into the room with a bundle of clothes on his arms and walked over to the pair. "Sir, a woman by the name of Sianne asked me to give you these," the man said as he handed Kudzu the bundle. Kudzu thanked the man and pulled the boy out of the water. He watched in amusement as the kid tried to stand up on his own without success. His cheeks were a bright red and Kudzu tried his best not to laugh his ass off. He handed the kid a rather large white shirt and he hurriedly put it on. This time he did laugh as he noted the sleeves streched passed his fingers by at least three inches and the shirt went almost to his knees. The kid really was nothing but a runt. He then handed the kid a pair of boxers and black pants, travelers clothes, and a pair of black sandles. Included in the pile was also a scarf which he supposed were meant to hide the boys scars on his kneck since the kid obviously didn't want anyone to know about them. He handed this to the boy but found to his vast amusement that instead of around his kneck he automatically tied it around his hair in an attempt to hide it. Note to self: the blonde hair is definetly a large way people identify him and would be good info in his search.

When Kudzu walked out onto the streets with the boy on his back the boy ( he really needed to learn what his name was) bent his head down against Kudzu shoulder hiding his face. His arms hung around Kudzu's kneck tightly, the scars glaring against his wrists. Yes, now would be a good time to introduce him to Abby... His supply wagon lay near the end of the line and no roof stood above it. Instead He and Abby would put up a large canopy over it when the wheather called for it. Sianne agreed to let the boy leave the medical wagon as long as he stayed in the wagon and didn't try to walk around. The childs was basically bed ridden for the next week or so and would take quite a few weeks after that to walk again. This made Kudzu relax quite a bit. It meant the child would not be able to run away for a while.

Fear enveloped Naruto as the man not only saw his blonde hair but also his whisker marks. No matter how hard he begged it his body just would not move. He could move his arms fine but what use was that when it all came down to his legs! These people were incredibly kind but there had to be a catch, there always was. He may be a bit slow at some things but he was NOT naive. He would admit though, he felt so much better now that he had no more filth on his body. He buried his face in Kudzu's shoulder in an attempt to hide from the others around them. Just because Kudzu didn't know what the marks meant didn't mean that nobody around here knew. Naruto understood that information concerning the nine tailed fox probably wouldn't get into the Lightning country but he would rather be cautious than find out otherwise.

Kudzu brought him to a wagon farther back than most, almost to the end of the line. Naruto peered over Kudzu's shoulder, blue eyes barely visible as one clouded and one clear gazed at the person who stood beside it. their figure relaxed with sleep against the wooden frame. "So, I ask you to watch our supplies for a few hours and you decide you'd rather watch the inside of your eyelids, huh?" Kudzu exclaimed loudly in an irritated tone. However, when Naruto snuck a look at the man's face hints of a smile seemed to lay withing the corners of his mouth. The person jerked awake immediately and gaze a guilty start at Kudzu.

Naruto peered at the person, a teen of about sixteen he guessed, with long black hair in a braid down her back. It reached all the way to her hip and held all sorts of ribbons spun in its depths. Her eyes were mirrors of Kudzu, a beautiful bright green like the plants he use to tend in Konoha. He missed those plants, so peaceful and still, but her eyes held none of that. Instead they held energy and excitement, almost to the brink of overwhelming. He liked that too. She wore a smile that reached into those eyes of hers and black pants like all the other travelers. However, instead of the usual white she wore a bright pink and shoes to match. At the moment a look of guilt seemed to play on her face but it also clung with mischief.

Kudzu placed him in the back right corner of the wagon on top of several thick blankets. He nodded at the man still unable to talk but wanting to show him that he was grateful to him. Naruto decided that it would be unlikely that a teen knew anything about the Kyuubi when the man did not so didn't bother to hide his marks in front of her. "This," Kudzu said gesturing to the teen, "is my granddaughter, Abby." Abby peered at him curiously and Naruto watched her cautiously. "I love your eyes, their a pretty shade of blue and those whisker marks are sooooo cute!" Abby pronounced to Narutos bewilderment and pleasure. A deep blush covered his cheeks. No one had ever said anything nice about him before, not ever. "Is it true though?" Abby whispered leaning over to Naruto so that only he could hear. "Are you really blind in your right eye?" She asked. Naruto looked at her in surprise but nodded. Kudzu looked at his granddaughter suspiciously but meerly moved over to the horses to make sure thier ropes were secure before they once more began their journey again.

Abby walked beside the wagon rather than ride inside and continued her conversation with the adorable child. "So, little one, how old are you?" She asked. Naruto thought about this, he would be seven in another week or so, so he decided just to tell her seven. He put up seven bandaged fingers in front of her. To Narutos shock the girl tripped and fell on her face when she saw the amount on is fingers. "Grandpa!" Abby called out when she got to her feet again. "What is it?" She heared him call out. "He says he's seven Gramps," she answered, her voice slightly shaking. Kudzu grunted in surprise but turned and nodded. Naruto looked from the teen to the man and back wondering what he'd done wrong this time. Again he found himself dumbfouded as Abby suddenly started to laugh, these people just continued to shock him again and again with their strange actions. "Wow," she exclaimed, "Your nothing but a runt!" This bothered him little, he'd heared much worse, runt actaully came as an improvement.

"Whats your name?" Abby asked. "I told you before Abby, he can't talk yet." Kudzu reminded her sternly. Naruto watched as the girl fold her arms and frown at him. "Well, can you write at least?" She asked him. Naruto shook his head. She sighed and peered at the sky for a few minutes without another word. Then turned to him and smiled. "Lets play a game then!" She said. She hopped into the wagon gracefully and moved through the supplies with a practiced hand. "Here we are!" She said loudly while she tugged a board game out. "Shougi!"

Chapter 6 To gain a family

Naruto gained his voice back within a few days but continued to act as if he couldn't talk as he watched these strange people arrive and set up in Revtin. Abby talked constantly about her and her grandfathers travels and Naruto listened intently, though he kept his face nuetral to Abby's apparent annoyance. He learned that Kudzu came from the Hidden Waterfall village and was a retired nin. Abby lossed her parents years ago in a war with another hidden village and took lessons from her grandfather while they traveled. Neither wore a headband or held any wish to, to Narutos relief.

Before they arrived Kudzu pulled Naruto to the side. "Now, I don't know why and I don't care to know why but you want to hide those marks on your face right?" Kudzu asked him. Naruto bent his head down and nodded. "Well I've got an idea how..." Kudzu said as he dug deep into one of his pockets. He pulled out a jar of black stuff that Naruto recognized as the paint the perfomers of the caravan wore. "Well just put this on your face in such a design that it will hide those marks of your, o.k?" Kudzu said. Naruto nodded his head vigorously and Kudzu laughed. Kudzu then taught Naruto how to apply the substance onto his face so that none of his hair would get the paint on it and the design appeared natural instead of planned. When Naruto peered at his reflection in one of the mirrors he found it difficult to tell that he was any different than the other children who strolled with their parents after they got their faces painted. This sent a jolt of happiness through him but he kept his face calm and nodded his head in gratitude towards the man who beamed back at him. Kudzu would get the kid to smile sooner or later.

The first night in Revtin he watched Kudzu and Abby perform fire tricks with natural talent and grace. Abby performed with a whip on fire while Kudzu manipulated the fire into the shape of a tiger that Abby pretended to tame with her whip. The show amazed him and he laughed out loud at thier display (though from the safe distance in the wagon where no one could hear him). Abby danced away from the tiger and slid behind it but to Narutos horror another one appeared out of no where and leaped at her. Abby merely flipped high into the air and landed behind the creature. Naruto sighed and clapped though pain shot through his hands and he immediately stopped. When the tigers vanished and the two bowed their audience cheered and yelled its enthusiasm.

Every night they performed a different act or told stories while bringing the scenes to life with fire and water jutsus, by day they sold their maps and books. Two weeks passed before Naruto began to speak with them and he decided to go with the name Tal, the one he used with the Inuzukas, since he liked it so much. He didn't bother with a last name since street rats usually don't have one. Naruto began to walk soon after ( with many, many falls mind you) with the help of Abby and Kudzu. He still didn't understand what they wanted from him though. He remebered the second day he began to talk to them he'd asked Kudzu what it was he wanted for helping him but Kudzu just looked at him strangely and told him he wanted nothing but for him to get better. That just didn't make any sense.

Naruto got out of the wagon early in the morning and gingerly made his way to the stream, his legs wobbled beneath him and he cursed as he found himself once again on the ground. Most of the bandages were gone but the ones on his legs remained. Sianne still seemed surprised at his ability to heal so quickly. She explained that normally it would take several months to get to the point Naruto was in only a few weeks. He struggled to his feet again, but his stupid legs refused to cooperate with him and gave in again. "You really shouldn't do that you know," Abby said from behind him. He didn't say anything just tried to stand again. He fell though and Abby caught him easily. "What did I just say?" She asked, her voice sweet but layered in ice. She helped him up and then put him on her back. Together they made their way to the stream and she set him down on a oddly smooth rock, as if the ocean itself carved it. She dipped her legs in the water, shoes to the side and pants pulled up.

Abby peered over at him and then turned away. "Tal?" She asked after a while. Naruto looked over at her at the sound of her voice spoken so soft compared to her usual loud self. "Kudzu told me not to ask you but... who hurt you so badly?" She asked. "I'm sorry, but what do you mean?" Naruto asked truelly confused. Their were lots and lots of different people and different ways and different injuries. "Who gave you those scars?" She asked pointing to his kneck. Naruto wasn't sure how to answer that. The guards put the chains and tag on him but the prisoners pulled at his chains and jerked him around as well and then Naruto himself had, on numerous occasions of trying to get them off, managed to dig them into his skin hard without success; there was no one person who gave him the scars. "Umm, there were lots of people who gave me these scars," Naruto said finally. She looked at him confused but didn't push the subject further.

"Tal, why don't you ever smile or laugh? You've been with us for weeks now but I've never once saw you smile or laugh." Abby said her head tilted toward upward. "Why do you want to know so much?" Naruto asked. "Because I care about you silly... children are suppose to be care free and get into trouble and make messes! Not be so polite and beat up and quiet and, and... cautious. I think you would probably have a really great smile if you tried." Abby said. A slight blush spread across his cheeks again. "Really?" he asked. She looked at him and grinned wide. "Really! And you look so cute when you blush like that!" Abby said her grin gaining ground as Narutos face turned completely red. She burst out laughing and Naruto quickly washed his face and hands after Abby boiled the water for the both of them. Naruot still refused to speak with the Kyuubi and thankfully the fox left him alone, knowing that Naruto was still angry and confused at him for what the fox had done.

On the day that Sianne annouced 'Tal' to be better, Naruto found himself in front of the two of them who kept on glancing at eah other in a silent conversation. Here was the catch... Naruto knew it would come and now he had to pay for their kindness. Nothing in this world came for free, always a price tag lay beneath a beautiful gift rapped in ribbons, and every ribbon came with its own set of restrictions for the gifts use. Kudzu sat down before him and Abby swiftly followed suit. "Tal, we would like you to come with us, travel with us that is..." Kudzu stopped as he watched Naruto slip to the ground in surprise. "Are you alright lad," Kudzu asked concerned. Naruto nodded, that was the price tag?

"We want you to come with us. I would teach you how to defend yourself and you would also learn our trade. We'd like to take you in and have you live with us." Kudzu said as he watched the boy intently. For the first time in a long time Naruto broke down and cried. Abby pulled him up into her warm arms and he sobbed long and hard, the paint ruined and imprinted on her shirt. She hugged him tightly against her and after a few hours fell asleep in her arms. The pair looked down on the boy and struggled not to cry themselves. His face red and puffy, Abby carried him over to the wagon and placed him in depths of the warm covers. She got into the wagon herself and sat down beside him, his fingers tightly clasped around her hand. Kudzu watched as the caravan began to move again and urged the horses into movement. Not once while the boy slept did she move from her spot and not once did Kudzu raise his voice above a whisper. Their was no doubt in thier minds that what the child had just done was say yes.

When finally Naruto sturred, he opened his eyes just a bit and looked up to see Abby above him. Abby looked down and realized that Tal smiled up at her. A shy smile that indeed was the lovliest she'd ever seen. "Abby," he whispered. Abby bent down toward him. "Yes?" She asked. "My real names Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto whispered. "Naruto, its a beautiful name," Abby said as he watched his smile widen as he sat up. "So... where are we going?" Naruto asked. "Well, one last town in the Lightning country, and then well head into the Earth country." Abby said. "That sounds fun," Naruto agreed loudly, his voice rising for the first time in a little over a year.

~~~~~One year later~~~~~

A few months after Naruto agreed to stay with them Kudzu revealed he knew Naruto to be a Jinchuuriki and Naruto told Kudzu everything he knew about the nine tailed fox. Kudzu, Abby and Naruto agreed that Naruto should stay with the name Tal and take on Kudzu and Abby's last name, Redeem. Naruto finally made a sort of peace with the nine tails as well and practiced using all six of its senses. Once in a while the Kyuubi would interupt him to give him advise or just his opinion on a certain area, but for the most part Naruto merely listened to him complain about humans were annoying and useless creatures. Almost immediately Kudzu began to teach Naruto taijutsu and some of the more fundamental ninjutsu. Besides that, Naruto also learned how to read and write, but also much of the geography through maps and travel. Abby taught him history and how to perform with fire without the use of justsu. Her element was water while Kudzus fire so when they perform she had to start fire manuel and combine it with Kudzus to create their act. Naruto wouldn't be allowed to perform for another year, unitl he training was more rounded.

The caravan held many different aspects to it. Many varieties of people and supplies traveled in the caravan including fortune tellers, traders and sellers of every kind, acrobats, weapons specialists and much, much more. Naruto's favorite wagon area to visit however was none of these. He enjoyed talking the animals that traveled with a man named Gal, who in Narutos opinion smelled ten times worse than the animal droppings on the side of the road. Naruto held no foundness for the man whatsoever and believed the animals deserved better than they got. The man yelled at them all the time and even though he cleaned and feed all of them they could all do with more food and definetly better cleaning. Naruto often would bring with him a large bag of treats, though only enough for one each to his displeasure. One particular cage was where Naruto ended up every day he visited them. By far the largest of the cages, it held a beautiful black panther named Tempest. Naruto loved to just sit and talk with the creature, though she eyed him wearily and usually sat as far away as possible. Naruto didn't mind at all though, since he was use to all humans ignoring and despising him why would he care if an animal did?

Naruto liked her because of her Aure, which he'd finally tested out, at the panthers core it glowed peaceful bright blue with small strands of silver. Technically the sixth sense was a type of sight but thankfully when he used it the color of his eyes did not change and his pupil did not strech into a slit. The color represented the nature of a person or creature while the strands that went through it revealed the spirit. Strangely, this panthers Aure seemed to be quite similiar to Abbys, though Abby was short tempered. Tempest appeared to be completely calm at all times and he'd not once seen her even flinch when people shoved thier faces into her cage. He never did that, only sat beside her cage and talked about all the things he couldn't say to Abby and Kudzu. Once after another horrible nightmare he'd come to her cage and described it to Tempest and then sat beside the cage and sobbed long and hard, though quietly so that no one could hear him. In the nightmare he'd been back in prison but this time not only were the four other prisoners there but also the shinobe that hurt him in Konoha and the shop keeper who'd hit him and the woman who'd told him to never enter her restaurant. They all began to beat him down and even after he'd woken up it felt as if his body truely suffered the blows and he'd been forced to bite through his lip to keep from waking Abby or Kudzu. Tempest for once sat beside him on the other side of the bars and Naruto soon fell asleep against the cold iron. Her fur the only thing to warm him.

On one of these visits Naruto found himself deeply dismayed to find a Tempest licking a paw with a piece of metal shoved through it. He approached the cage slowly and ignored her low growls as he got a closer look at the wound. He went to touch her paw to see if he could possibly remove it but she snapped at him, large white teeth showing. He got Sianne but Tempest wouldn't let her any where near the cage and so Naruto waited patiently beside the cage while Tempest eyed him dangerously and growled. Every ten minutes or so he would again attempt to reach into the cage but she would just snap at him again and he would draw back once more. For four hours this exchange took place but finally Naruto managed to gently lift her paw and place it in his lap. The paw itself covered both his legs easily and many would wonder how the child could possibly manage to be so close. Tempest half growled half hissed in pain as Naruto carefully tugged the metal out and put it on the ground next to him. Gal at least held the common sence to go get Sianne after this and with Naruto there to hold the panthers paw, she healed the wound and rapped it in bandages.

The large feline then began to purr each time afterward when Naruto came to visit and Naruto would make sure to bring her an extra snack and both of those snacks would be extra big. She would go right up to the cage and lay next to him as he would tell her about everything and anything. Once in a while Kudzu or Abby would join him and he would still talk though not about such personal things. While he felt relieved in telling Tempest his greatest pains he would not allow Kudzu or Abby to worry about him and definely did not want them to know about his past any more than was neccesary. They would only be more afraid for him and that he would not allow. He already felt guilty that they worried about him as much as they did.

While in a village called Hulina Kudzu visited yet another library, the fifteenth in the last two months. He'd been in search of anything that held any connection to jinchuuriki, but the information seemed to be no where. He scanned shelf after shelf but nothing. He'd been surprised to hear Naruto tell him that he'd not known that his kind were called Jinchuuriki, even more surprised by the fact that he'd found out about the Kyuubi on his own and actually talked to the Biju on a regular basis. It scared him to know that the child was in communication with such a danerous figure that he had no power to protect the boy from, but Naruto assured him time and time again that the beast would not harm him due to the fact that if Naruto died so would he. Kudzu wanted to know more though, if only so that the beast couldn't hold any advantage over Naruto in the area of knowledge. It would not fair well if the beast knew something important and Naruto was hurt just because he didn't know.

Kudzu put a large pile of books on one of the tables near the back, having no interest to explain why he needed books with the titles supplied. He chosen some very... intrueging titles because of the fact that what he looked for included sacrifices and great spirits. The first book _'Jutsu's that require life & vast chakre' _held no useful information. Another, called _'Summoning Great Spirits' _talked largely about the three great Sannin of the fire nation and their partners/summons. Still more went by such titles as _'DEATH by JUTSU,' 'Spirits and Demons,' _and _'The Greatest of Jutsus.' _It wasn't until he reached the middle of his pile that he found something of value. There was no question about it, the book was ancient. It's spine just managed to keep the pages between the rotting covers and the print lay faded, almost ubreadible, almost that is. The title read in large silver letters, '_Spirit Holders,' _and with every page he found himself leaning more and more toward the words within.

_There are several different branches of Spirit holders, the most powerful being the Jinchuuriki, followed by Hinshuun and Ginuuniki in the middle range and Crinsuuki, Tinrikuun, and Mineskuu at the lowest range..._

_The nine Great Spirits of Chaos and Destruction known as Biju or tailed beast are known to appear during times of trouble and... _

_Each beast differs in characteristics depending on the amount of tails they have. Each possessing a number of tails according to the name given to them. The Shukaku holds one tail, The Nibi holds two..._

_The Tailed beasts are monstous formations of chakre..._

_The Jinchuuriki have been used to begin, end and for the duration of, for extreme advantages in wars, individuals and nations all have attempted at some point in history to use these Spirit holders for their own gain. Aquiring the power for military purposes or using them as a threat to anyone who dare go against the group that controls them. For centuries these beasts have been competed for and sought after. _

_However, very few shinobe in all of history have been able to control such power and the attempt has caused catastophic results and so many deaths that the number is beyond human comprhension. The power is simply beyond mans ability. _

_If a Biju is ever extracted from a Jinchuuriki that Jinchuuriki will die, only death may seperate a Jinchuuriki from their biju..._

_Jinchuuriki are characterized by being able to tap into unimaginable power by resonating with Biju..._

_The purpose of a Jinchuuriki would their usefulness as weapons of mass destruction..._

_To create a Jin..._

_Extracting a Biju from a Jin... _

Kudzu closed the book with a snap. He would be taking this book with him wheather the library allowed it or not. Its contents were just to dangerous to be in a place like a library and he suddenly understood why he found no other information any where else. If Jinchuuriki were truelly created for the sole purpose of war then no nation would allow such information to be public and he wondered how this piece ever managed to make it to the book shelf.

When he made his way back to the caravan he read it all the way through and wearily called Tal (Naruto) away from Abby who'd telling him a story of sorts. As the boy arrived he took a single look at Kudzus face, etched with worry and weariness. "Tal, I want you to read this and then keep it on you always! Is that understood? Let absolutely no one touch it!" Kudzu spoke with a rare tone of sterness that made Naruto immediately agree. Naruto took the book, thanked him and found a comfortable seat under a willow before he began to read. When he finished he nervously tucked the book away and looked at Kudzu a bit fearfully. He got up and trudged over to a grim Kudzu and a puzzled Abby. "Is it truly that bad?" She asked allowing a bit of concern to seep into her voice. The two nodded in unison and Naruto felt his legs grow weak under his small frame and even though he did not fall he turned away and puked his breakfest onto the grass.

"Tal, this changes nothing. You are still apart of MY family, nothing would ever change that. If anything this makes me want to protect you even more. Don't you ever think differently, understand?" Kudzu asked as he bent over and helped Naruto get vomit out of some of his hair. Abby bent down as well and looked at the two, annoyance at obvoiusly being let out of the group but concern more evident as she too helped him. "I want to read that book you got," She told them firmly. "When you turn eighteen I'll let you but for now its too much for you to handle," Kudzu said in an even firmer tone than his granddaughters. "One: I'm going to be eighteen in only a year so I don't think thats much of a difference on the maturity scale. Two:" Abby said tipping each one off on her fingers, "HE'S only eight, thats nine years younger than me! Three: I'm Narutos family too and I think I have a right to know just as much as you!"

Kudzu raised three fingers and with each sentence he pulled one down. "One: As long as your younger than eighteen I still say what you can and cannot do so no _but's_ about it. Two: It directly concerns the boy and it would be far worse to keep the information from him. Three: You should NOT say his name out loud like that unless you want to get him killed, which clearly shows that NO you aren't ready to read whats in that book. And lastly Naruto is far more mature than you 'despite' the fact that you ARE nine years older than him." Kudzu finished all this by folding his arms and daring her to even think about argueing. Instead she stuck her tounge out at the old man and dragged Naruto back over to their spot where she continued to weave a story of ancient warriors fighting a desperate battle to save their loved ones. The little eight year hung on her every word, eyes alight (yes both of them) with a bright happiness. Kudzu could see this and yet he also saw the darkness in the childs eyes that threatened to spill over and take the child away again. He would not allow any one to make those eyes lose their light again, not ever.

"No, don't move your fingers so rigidly, they have to flow into the next sign," Abby instructed Naruto while their lunch lay forgotten on a blanket. "Flow?" Naruto lookedat his hands in frustration and tried again, this time slower and stedier. Naruto still didn't understand what she ment by flow though and in the attempt. "O.k, let me show you, whatch my hands," Abby said for what seemed like the twentieth time in the last hour. Naruto watched carefully, as he did, she moved her hands from one sign to the next, but instead of seperating them when going to the next sign her fingers moved along her hands and slipt into it. After she finished she stopped Naruto in the middle of another attempt. "This time I want you to close your eyes and feel the hand signs..." She instructed. Naruto closed his eyes and again, even slower than before, performed the hand sign. One hand moved over the other until they completed the last of the forms. Suddenly bright light showered upon them and Naruto almost lost his concentration in his moment of pure joy. He opened his eyes and peered at the ball of bright light. "Great!" Abby congratulated, "This jutsu will allow you to illuminate a battlefield, will come in handy for a search party or any time that you need light at all." They beamed at each other and then a thought came to him.

"Can you make the light form different shapes?" he asked her. Abby looked at him for a moment in a thoughtful expression. "It might be possible but you would need to concentrate a lot and perhaps adjust the hand signs. Though I don't see much point in changing the shape if you just need it for light any way." A very suspicious look appeared on Naruto's face but Abby decided to ignore it, for now any way. They made their way into the caravans camp where the traders began to pack up for the day and the entertainers started to set up their own bussiness for the long night ahead. Abby winked at Naruto and he watched in envy as she and Kudzu began their annual act.

~~~~~One year later~~~~~

Nine years old, Naruto stared at the large coud assembled nervously. A hand touched his shoulder and Naruto jumped in surprise and looked at Abby a bit irritated that he'd not felt her presence before that moment. "Don't worry Tal," Abby said with a wink, "you'll do great! and..." She added with a knowing look. "You will never be able to sneak up on ME! And I will always be able to sneak up on YOU!" She teased, dancing away from his grasp and smiling at his glaring eyes. "Ooops, now look what you did," she said wickedly, pointing in the direction of the croud, "you missed your curtain call." Naruto paled as he realized Kudzu just announced him. Naruto quickly took a deep breath and did the seals for the light manipulation jutsu and burst in front of the crowd.

No exageration. Naruto appeared in front of them seemingly out of nowhere in a giant display of lights that wound around the audience in long, thinlike threads. The threads twirled and danced, leaped and spun and then began to gather above thier heads and finally crashed together. The crowd cried out in amazement as the light formed a giant dragon with magnificent wings which managed to spread themselves the entire length of the area. It appeared to look down on them before it dove strait up and thats when a childs voice rang out and captured them in an ancient story of dragons and warriors, called shinobe, who fought along side the beasts to prevent the destruction of the world. With each sentance spoken new images would appear; battles would unfold before their eyes, waterfalls would flow among them, a couple would share a passionate kiss unaware of the crowd watching their every move. At the end, when all that remained of the wonderful story was a small child who bowed before them, nothing could be heared above their applause.

Naruto came close to tears at the sound of their applaud, but that would only smudge the intricate design he'd done especially for the show this night. He bowed again and then stood up with a huge grin on his face. Later on Kudzu told him proudly that he'd never in his life seen a more awwed crowd of peopel and certainly not a better show. Abby sniffed as if insulted that any show could possibly be better than hers but it lost its effect as the corners of her mouth soon curved into a smile and her eyes shown brightly.

The next morning began like any other. With lots of work in taijutsu. Second on the list, right behind chakre control, Narutos taijutsu was his worst skill because he was blind in his right eye. All attacks that came from that direction hit the entended target, him. Kudzu taught with patients and understanding, correcting all his stances and teaching him a type of fighting stlye that allowed him to sense his opponents rather than see them. Kudzu refused to allow him to use the fox's senses and told him that he needed to learn to fight without relying on the Kyuubi but on his own skill instead. Naruto agreed but the training was grueling to say the least. Since the caravan was so large Naruto and Kudzu could train all morning and catch up to it within an hour or so and to Narutos grief Kudzu took it as an opportunity to train Naruto even more by having them run all the way. By afternoon each day Naruto would fall asleep in the wagon for a good hour before he would listen to Abby talk about history and geography and all sorts of other things.

Night came quickly to the travelers of the caravan, all would lie beneath the stars in groups around their own fires and converse long into the night. Kudzu and Abby watched Naruto toss and turn, his fingers would dig into his blankets in pain and numerous times he opened his mouth in a way that looked like he was screaming. He made not a sound though. Not long after he came to be with Kudzu and Abby they'd been forced to teach him a jutsu he could place on himself to silence him at night because the others in the caravan complained the childs screams kept them up at night. More often than night Naruto developed a high fever at night and either Abby or Kudzu would place a cold cloth on his head. The nightmares came every night with no mercy on the boy and both of them found it difficult to sleep knowing of the boys pain but unable to do anything about it.

"One of the most well known of the side effects faced by the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi would be the nightmares that come when

they sleep. Anything that occurs in the nightmare will be felt as real to the Jin even though no wounds will appear on the skin. While

asleep the Jin will either face high fevers or deep chills in the body." Kudzu quoted the verse from the Spirit Holder book he'd stolen a year

ago. It was the first in a long list, with each sounding just as bad as the one before. "Is there nothing we can do?" Abby asked. Kudzu

looked at her and decided at his grand daughter. She'd read the book and could tell she did not like any of them any more than he. "Do

you remember what you read about the other branches of the Spirit Holders?" He asked her. She stared at him for a moment then nodded.

"There's the Hinshuun and Ginuuniki in the middle range of power. The Hinshuun hold other types of Great Spirits while the Ginuuniki hold

those spirits that will someday become great spirits. The Crinsuuki, Tinrikuun, and Mineskuu are at the lowest range. The Crinsuuki hold

minor spirits, the Tinrikuun hold human spirits and the Mineskuu hold animal spirits." Abby said quietly, her eyes still on her grandfather.

Kudzu nodded and continued to be silent for a few moments before he took in a long steady breath. "In the book, the stuff

pertaining to the history of Spirit Holders, it talks about the Jinchuuriki that took on second spirits. Guardian Spirits that protect the host

from their Biju, at least partially, and aide the holder in fighting against the Biju. These Guardian Spirits come from the Mineskuu branch,

meaning an animal spirit is used." Kudzu said quickly so as to get it all out before she protested. She looked at him shocked at such an

idea, yet it definetly sounded beneficial, but what if the spirit also decided to hurt him rather than help? She shook herself from her daze

as she realized he was still talking. "...for a while now. I think I finally found someone who could perform such a jutsu and since it's not a

great spirit it will only require a bit more blood than in a regular summon, not a life. The animal itself must agree to protect the child and

the agreement would work as an oral contract, binding the animal to its duty..." Abby raised her hand to silence him. "Exactly how long

have you been considering this?" Abby asked, her voice little more than a whisper. "A few months now, I've just been searching for a

person who specializes in seals. I found an old woman who's capable and as a plus she knows how to keep her trap shut." Kudzu said.

Abby nodded and peered at Naruto. "What will the Guardian be able to protect Naruto against?" Abby asked.

"Well, for one the Guardian will be able to block 'some' of the pain that comes with his nightmares. They'll stop the large amount

of chakre running through his body altogether, unless an emergency occurs where its required. That will help Naruto with his chakre

control, though he appears to have a larger amount of chakre than most shinobe any way so it will still be difficult. The best part would be

that the strain on his chakre coils will be greatly reduced. He's probably use to it and doesn't notice, but I can tell when he performs his

jutsus that his chakre system is relieved to get rid of the excess chakre. He really has no clue what it feels like to have his chakre drained.

When I asked he said that when he performs a justsu its like hes lighter, the more chakre he throws out the happier he is."

"Another thing the Guardian would help with would be that cough he gets once in a while were he spits up blood and his throats

raw? It happens when all of the foxs chakre builds up and starts to burn his organs. The Guardian should be able to lesson the effect. On

top of that they should be able to be inside the prison room with Naruto so the fox will be less able to do anything while their in the room.

They would also be able to releave some of the strain put on his body. His body is just too small to contain that thing and with the

Guardian there, they could take some of that pressrue away from him." Kudzu explained. "So, do you have any animal in mind?" Abby

asked. "Well, thats the only problem... I do have an idea but... we would have to trick Naruto in order to do it..." Kudzu said peering at

the fire instead of Abby herself.

"Kudzu!" Naruto cried racing into toward their wagon. "Kudzu, something really bad has happened!" Naruto ran over to Kudzu

who looked over to the little nine year old with a grim expression. "Whats wrong Tal?" Kudzu asked. Naruto placed his hands on his

knees and tried to catch his breath, he'd obviously run the entire way. "Its Tempest! Sianne says shes going to die!" Kudzu winced as he

heard the pained strain in his voice. "She said there was nothing she could do!" Naruto choked out. Kudzu placed a shocked look on his

face and hugged the boy tightly. Then he looked strait into the childs eyes, and though he inwardly hated himself for it, he forced the words

out. "I think I know a way to save her, but you have to be absolutely willing! It would require you to take on a third spirit" Kudzu said. He

dug his teeth into his tounge and wished with all of his heart that this could be done another way, but he knew Naruto would never be willing

to take away Tempests freedom no matter how much it would help himself. Naruto immediately shook his head just like he knew he would,

bless that childs heart, it wouldn't matter what the cost would be, Naruto would do anything for anyone he cared about without a seconds

hesitation. That only made the guilt ten times worse though. To be able to manipulate someone into doing something because they

possess such a caring soul was the worst possible thing for anyone to do.

Abby came around the wagon and Kudzu told Abby what Naruto just told him. Guilt tugged at her heart, but she shoved it aside for

a later time. Right now she had a job to do. "Abby, I want you and Sianne to bring Tempest to Uangs street, Tal and I will meet you there in

about twenty minutes time. Understand?" Kudzu said, his eyes looking every where, but at her. "Tal, put on your cloak and well go, it

looks like it will start to rain before we get there." Kudzu said as he peered up at the sky. Naruto nodded and dug his arm into a bag that

stuck out of the wagons already covered surface.

They made their way down the winding streets quickly and Kudzu began to have second thoughts. What if something went wrong?

What if this woman wasn't as skilled as the rumors spoke to be? What if Tempest refused? Damn, why didn't I think about this earlier?

The questions ran through his head over and over agian as they walked, but resolution overtook him as he looked at the determined face

Naruto held. If it worked it would all be worth it. Tempest will agree, he was sure of it, he'd never seen any one so close to the animal as

Naruto was. When they arrived at thier destination a few minutes later Naruto's face paint was smudged by the thick drops of rain that

made it past the cloth of the hood. They entered a rather small house on the corner of the street and Kudzu lead Naruto down a flight of

stairs to the womans basement.

In a rocker across the room she sat, like an empress of a large empire, her silver straw hair lay on both sides of her. Her

wrinkled hands grasped a beautifully carved staff tightly enough to turn her knuckles white. She peered at Naruto with almost black irises

that made the pupil seem nonexistent. Her clothes appeared to be ancient as they were yellowed with age and altogether worn out. She

stood up slowly and with great care. Kudzu watched her carefully as she motioned for Naruto to come over to her. He'd warned her not

to say a word and to go along with the story. Kudzu quickly went throught the lines of explanation as the old woman looked Naruto over.

"I see," she said slowly, "take your cloak and shirt off boy, I need to see that seal of yours." Naruto looked over at Kuzu who nodded

that it was alright. Naruto peeled away his slightly wet clothes and ran chakre through his stamoche for her. When the eight trigram

seal appeared Naruto heared her draw a deep breath.

"Eight," she mumbled to herself, just loud enough for Naruto to hear, "hmm, that means I'll need an even seal of a higher degree

for this to be done correctly. The ten ne seal should do nicely, I should think." She bit her thumb hard and a line of blood began to trickle

down her skin. Nervous, Naruto skipped from foot to foot and stole glances at Kudzu to assure himself everything would turn out well. In

any other case he would have bolted, the woman was scary, but he wouldn't let Tempest die. "BOY, stop your fidgeting! I want you to

take this Kunai and draw a good amount of your own blood, understand?" The old woman snapped. Naruto nodded and took the Kunai

offered to him. Then, without so much as a second thought, he dug it deep into his arm and dragged it down about an inch. The old

woman smiled at him when he did this and mumbled something like, 'at least the brats not a gutless worm like most I'v...' Naruto didn't

catch the rest as Abby and Sianne came into the room with an unconcious Tempest.

Naruto paled even more at his friends limp form. The old woman suddenly began to move quicker than Naruto would have ever

believed. She dipped her blood stained thumb into Narutos wound and began to draw signs on his stomache around the Kyuubis

prison. Naruto bit his lip, a bad habit he developed when he was nervous, and stood as still as he possibly could. It took half an hour of

careful movements of both her and Naruto, but finally she finished the designs. "I'm not going to lie to you brat... This will hurt like hell

and will last a lot longer than a few seconds. A deal has to be made." The old woman spoke in an almost hypnotic tone of voice now.

Naruto nodded that he understood and closed his eyes tight. "TEN NE SEAL!" He heared her cry out and felt pain erupt through out

his body. It felt as if a piece of half melted metal suddenly had been rammed into his stomache and just lay on his insides. Naruto let

out a bloodcurdling scream as the pain suddenly intensified. However, he never moved, not once.

The old woman watched impressed as the brat managed to stay upright. It would become very difficult for her if he couldn't take

the pain and past out. She turned her hands toward the panther and made yet another set of hand signs. When she finished a light

began to envelop both the brat and the panther until she could barely see either. Rapidly the light dissapeared from the panther and

reappeared above its body. The panther looked down on the four observers below, bright blue body with swirls of silver which

constantly moved, shoulder blades arched in pain and anger, silver eyes opened wide. The old human spoke out to her before she

made her move. "Please listen spirit, we have a deal for you."

The old woman began and decided to be completely truthful, after all, only fools would try to lie to a spirit. "We deceived the

child into believing you would die this night." Anger flared even greater in the panthers eyes as they moved over to the kit she liked so

much in pain. "It was wrong but he needs a guardian and we wish it to be you. You will be given the ability to speak every language

including the language of humans and the length of a human life, much longer than your own, in exchange to protect this child." The

old woman spoke loudly and with great authority. The panther stared directly into the old womans eyes for several minutes, the long

silence filling the room and almost choking the three observers of the two. Then, with a final glance at the child beneath her, the great

beast nodded her head.

She burst into particles that swirled around Narutos bodys, its power enough to begin a strong wind around the

room that whipped Narutos hair about and swipped the tears of pain from his cheeks. As the particles of light entered Narutos body he

fell to the ground and a scream escaped his throat that cracked his voice and sent a chill of fear through all occupants in the room.

Blood began to pour from the seal on his stomache as well as the whisker marks on his face as if someone suddenly slashed them

open. Naruto heared nothing, saw nothing, and cared nothing for the outside world. All he knew came in the form of the horribe fire that

enveloped him whole and crashed through his body to the point where he thought he no longer existed. An unpenetrable darkness

surrounded him and he knew no more.

The moment the particles of light dissapeared Kudzu ran to Naruto and rapped the child in his arms. The old woman collapesed

onto the ground and Abby knelt beside her while Sianne moved toward Naruto to check his vital signs. Only when she nodded her head

did they let any breath enter their lungs. Sianne quickly rapped up his stomache and placed even more bandages on his cheeks, the paint

completely ruined and for the most part gone now. The old woman fell back into her rocker and gazed tiredly at the group assembled before

her, her eyes glazed over slightly and deep breaths coming slowly but strong. The groups attention was caught when Naruto's sleeve

slipped down his arm a bit to reveal a chest that moved up and down with a black mark right in the center. The black mark took the shape

of a paw print of medium size, the talons seemed to just touch the scars that circled his kneck as if they wished to claw them away.

Naruto himself seemed to just be in a deep sleep, though the group knew he would be out of it for at least a few days, regardless of how

quickly he could heal himself.

Kudzu let a sigh escape from his lips as he lifted Naruto carefully off the ground, afraid that the child might be worse off than they

thought. His head leaned against Kudzu's chest and hair, wet from the rain, slipt down to cover his closed eyes. Kudzu couldn't help but

notice that the child still held little weight even after the last two years of living with them. If asked people still believed Naruto to be at least

two years younger than he actually was and clothes were difficult to find for him that would fit his small frame. From Kudzu's pocket he

pulled out a leather bag and set it before the old woman. "I believe this is the amount we agreed upon?" Kudzu said weakly. The woman

peered at him then bent down and measured the bags weight before she nodded in acknowledgement. Within a few minutes the group

seemed ready to leave but before they assended the stairs the old woman cleared her throut, though a bit hesitant, Kudzu turned back

toward her. She showed no emotion on her face or any body language to suggest any particular feeling what so ever, but a softness etched

her voice as she spoke her final words to him. "Take care of the child, he seems to possess a spirit of great kindness and it would be

tragic to know something happened to him." Kudzu nodded firmly and dissapeared after Sianne and his grandaughter.

Indeed, three days later found Naruto awake with a major headache that just would not go away. Sianne assured him that the

headache would receed after a few more hours. At that moment Abby jumped into the moving wagon of the medical room with a large grin

on her face and something folded over her arms. She sat down on a stool and gracefully balanced herself as the wagon bounced over a

rather large rock in the road beneath them. She then proceeded to flap the thing in her arms until the clothe spread out on Naruto's lap

which lead him to realize that the cloth actually unrolled to become a beautifully made coat. Light and well sewn, Naruto's fingers traced the

edges and looked at it curiously. Abby was too much of a tom boy to really care much about what the coat 'looked' like so he knew that she

didn't smile for that reason but because the coat held some other fashion of use. He waited patiently and continued to examine the coat

because he knew she would tell him only after he took in everything. The coat held many pockets both on the inside and outside, the cloth

appeared to be strong but light and the color was a bright blue that matched his eyes almost perfectly.

"Here, watch this!" Abby whispered with a sparkle in her bright green eyes. She placed her hands on lines of the coat and closed

her eyes in concentration. A few moments before she opened up her eyes and Naruto thought she looked just a little pleased with her self

even though there was no evidents that anything had been done at all. Naruto tried very hard to keep his face calm but he failed and

laughed as Abby glared at him. After Naruto recovered from his fit of laughter he took a deep breath to calm the laugh that threatened to

overtake him again. "So, umm, did you do something?" Naruto asked in his most innocent voice. If at all possible Abby's glare became

even more life threatening, but as if someone hit a switch, her glare turned into a smirk. "Why don't you try to lift the coat again, hmm?"

Abby asked with just as a innocent voice as Narutos. Naruto gripped the coat and tried to lift it, but it seemed as if it suddenly gained a

ton of weight and Naruto couldn't even pull up one of its sleeves. "What...?" Naruto asked his curiousity breaking its peek. Abby folded her

arms with a smug look on her face. " 'This' is your new training exercise. You will perform all of your exercises in it," Abby proclaimed as

Naruto paled.

Abby adjusted the weight so that it would be managible enough for Naruto to handle and explained that to him that the lining of the

jacket were threaded with a special thread only found in the village they stood in (Dereko or something like that). The threads were especially

made to weave chakre through and the could be used to increase the weight of the object they were sewn into. The cloth of the coat may

have been light but it was the strongest cloth, Abby proclaimed loudly, ANYWHERE. Even Kunia or shurriken couldn't cut the cloth. "AND,"

Abby said energetically, "I got you four coats so that when you grow we won't have to wait a few years to replace it. All of them are a different

color! The first is blue which you'll probably use until your about ten, then a black one until your about twelve or so, another black one but it

has orange thread (really cool looking if you ask me) and a dark blue with black threading. The shopkeeper gave me a good price for it too..."

Abby continued to talk all afternoon and Naruto was content to just listen as she jumped from one subject to the next.

Naruto wore his coat not only while he trained but all the time. He loved his present and very much wanted Abby to know he loved it.

His taijutsu quickly improved with its help and with every few weeks he would increase the weight put on it. A tree exercise kept him busy for

several weeks but he continued on every night until he could barely move, then would have to drag himself all the way to the caravans before

he would fall into the back of the wagon with two pairs of eyes that crinkled from wide smiles. When Kudzu found that Naruto held a small piece

of paper that split in two, he frowned and Naruto thought he'd somehow done something wrong. However, Kudzu assured him that, that was not

the case. It was merely that wind type element was rare and that Kudzu knew absolutely no wind type jutsus to teach him. When Naruto

asked why this was so Kudzu began a lesson with a deep sigh and plumt himself onto the ground very unceromonially.

"Well, its like this," Kudzu said knowing that it would be a rather long lecture, "You know that the five great nations consist of Fire,

Lightning, Wind, Earth and Water (which is better known as the Wave country). Each of the nations were named after the five elements that

shinobe manipulate to perform ninjutsu, genjutsu and (occationally) taijutsu, such as putting chakre in the legs or arms to increase speed or

strength. Well, each element holds different 'standards' you could say to manipulate them. Each persons very core holds an element that

matches that core. You told me that Abby's core was blue, the color of water, while mine stood as red, which matches fire. Water users

usually run along the lines of these characteristics; Positive points- gentle, calm, reflective and brave, Negative points- overconfident and intrusive.

Fire users usually run along the lines of these characteristics; Positive- intelligent, quick-witted, caring and calculative, Negative- rash, prideful

and manipulative... Well, you get the point. These by no means are the only characteristics and many may not even describe that person, but

a person aligns the best to these traits. Two other much rarer elements that almost no one outside the lightning country know about would be

Light and Dark. In all my years the light manipulation jutsu is the only one I've come across and my use of it holds below average at that." At

this a blush of pride spread across Naruto's cheeks and Kudzu ruffled his hair foundly. "Well talk more about that at a later date though and

focus more on the first five for now..." Kudzu said which resulted in a slightly dimmed Naruto.

Kudzu smirked and pulled a leather bound book with pages that revealed an aged yellow look. Naruto nearly burst with joy, but quieted

as Kudzu put a finger to his lips and slipt it into one of Narutos many pockets. "Wait ti'll your alone to read it. Abby would be giving an old

geezer like me no end of trouble if she found out I gave you such an advanced book," Kudzu whispered softly with a wink, " though there are

many things in there that I myself have yet to decipher, might be fun, no?"

So he learned mainly jutsus of the water element due to the fact he held no talent what-so-ever in fire jutsu and neither Kudzu or Abby

knew many outside their own element. Kudzu vehemently promised that when they arrived in Suna in the next few weeks he would pick up

special paper to test Naruto in order to see what element he was alligned in. Frequently Tempest appeared next to Naruto, her blue-silver

transparent beign seen only to the like of him and who she chose worthy. The Kyuubi scuffed at the idea of a so called 'protecter' and Naruto

found the two more often than not at each others throats over something trivial or another. Naruto held the sneaking suspicion that the old

fox was actually a little hurt by the idea. Naruto told him that he'd done it to save her and though both Kyuubi and Tempest knew other wise

they did not speak of it, they at least agreed on that. Tempests voice felt similiar to a cool breeze and often made him laugh when she would

curl up beside him and whisper in his ear. While in the prison room she could touch him out here she could only slightly influence his

movements and with great concentration at that.

Laugh

I was going through all my documents and found a collection of all my really horrible first attempts at story writing as a kid. Here's a laugh for all of you. Each chapter is one story I attempted and gave up on cause I didn't like it. Remember I was pretty young when doing this so laugh but don't flame. This is meant to demonstrate the horrors of first attempts.

A boy of elevan peered down at the village before him. A mop of blonde hair hid under a black bandana, the few strains that escaped its hold drifted in front of a pair of ocean blue eyes, though one appeared to be clouded. Orange face paint lay in spectacular designs along the boys face, all marks hidden beneath its layer, not unlike a mask. He sat in black pants that were wide to allow free movement that went down passed the beginning of his black boots and a large black jacket that spread down to almost his knees, covered with numerous pockets to hold his possessions. What wasn't held in his jacket settled in a small shoulder bag of a bright orange that matched his face. At the moment his jacket lay unzipped all the way to allow the breeze to sift passed him at its leisure. A T-shirt, also orange, lay against his chest as it rose and fell with a steady breath. Usually the jacket was zipped up all the way. This presented the appearence of the boy to look far bigger than he was because of all his stuff placed inside the jacket, actually he was a runt of a child, far too small for his age. Around his kneck scars lay faded, the jacket zipped up for the sole purpose of hiding them. He also wore finger black finger gloves with a metal plate on each only instead of silver they were orange, though they lay hidden under the sleeves of the jacket. The thing that stood out most though lay on the ground next to him. A staff of dark brown wood with numerous black designs stretching across it. On each end a sharp blade in the shape of a leaf spread out, one green the other a silver color that blazed with the sun. Both blades could cut a single piece of hair several times over. For now though two black shealths covered their magnificiancebg.

The boy sighed audibly as he looked upon the gates of Konoha, not too far ahead of him. After all this time, after doing everything possible to stay away from this place, he still ended up here in the end. Memories swam into his thoughts but he pushed them away much like he pushed himself off the ground to finish his journey. The papers sat in his side pockets and the name he'd chosen wasn't one he felt fond of but would be and had been useful to him. Kudzu'd gave him this identity and forged it along with papers of safe travel for him quite a few years back. Five years he'd been away and he briefly thought the time frame too short, yes, forever and a day would have been much better. The guards, two men with the usual shinobe headband that held the leaf symbol carved into its metal frame, both wore drabb grey uniforms. One wore a bandana like his own with brown bangs that slipped over one of his eyes while the other stood much taller ( though he suspected that this was due to his large spikey blue hair) and a bandage that crossed his nose. They studied him with a bit of a bored expression placed on their faces, evidence that they did this type of job every day and he smiled in hopes to cheer them up out of their gloom. They each brightened a bit and returned his smile with one of their own, the short one broad while the tall one displayed what looked more like a smirk but held too much warmth to be. He handed them his papers and they looked through them and sent him through like he knew they would. The papers had worked through many diffrent areas throughout the five nations, there was no reason they shouldn't work here.

As he made his way down the road, one of the shinobe ( he wasn't sure which) called out to him. "Welcome to Konoha Tal Redeem!" He thanked him and went along his way. Now, where would he start searching?

Aure

As little ones walk towards their homes

They sing and talk along the blocks

The light is kind and gentle and soon

The night comes to tuck in it's own

So hurry home and soon the king

will be safe on the wings of Konohas own

He whispered this to himself not even really thinking about the wordes themselves but the beat at which they

A successful eight out of nine he believed. Two human sacrifices were required. The first required the life of the sacrifice while the second, which had to be a newborn or else the sacrifice would die, the biju would be released and all would be for not, would give up there freedom and be bond to the Biju until the day they died.

_There are several different branches of Spirit Holder, the most powerful being the Jinchuuriki, followed by Hinshuun and Ginuuniki in the middle range and Crinsuuki, Tinrikuun, and Mineskuu at the lowest range._

_Jin- The Nine Great Spirits of Chaos and Destruction_

_Hin - All other Great Spirits_

_Gin- Those that will become Great Spirits_

_Crin- Minor Spirits_

_Tin- Human Spirits_

_Min- Animal Spirits_

_A smile to hide all of my tears_

_Laughter to show I have no fears_

_No one to hear me scream into the night_

_No one to see my teeth bared in fright _

_No one that holds a light for me _

_When darkness takes my sight from me_

_And shadows left and right of me_

_Yet they cannot brake me_

_When dawn arrives, still no relief_

_only the beginning of more grief_

_Shadows follow every step_

_Figures take the things long kept_

_The heart refuses to be denied _

_Continues to fight the outside_

_A steady beat _

_They cannot brake me I say_

_Neither dawn nor dusk or night and day_

_Time will not wear me away_

_I'm here to stay_

_This I say, is my way._

_The Brighter the purer a Soul_

_Element _

_Water: Blue- Gentle, calm, reflective and brave Overconfident, _

_Wind: White- courages, thoughtful, kind and understanding Blunt, untrusting, hidden _

_Fire: Red- intelligent, quick witted, caring and calculative rash, prideful, manipulative _

_Earth: Green- observant, protective, caring, and sincere Sincitive, _

_Lightning: Yellow- protective, compassionate, quiet and truthful Unobservant, _

_Dark: Black- Intelligent, level- headed, cautious, and gentle weak-willed, deceptive, hidden _

_Light: Gold: Clever, strong willed, gentle and cautious impatient, deceptive, hidden _


	2. Haku

**I don't own Naruto **

**It was supposed to be an opening for one of my stories a while ago. Didn't like it at all. **

**Haku**

In the midst of a green field filled with medical herbs I met a kind stranger. We spoke few words to one another yet… we understood each other instantly. He was tall with silky black hair and gentle brown eyes that spoke of a soft spirit. The porcelain face was far more feminine than any male should possess, but somehow wouldn't have fit any other person but him.

I've never actually simply had a conversation with someone near my own age before. Not with someone that was both willing and interested in the conversation at least. So I was nervous and unsure at first but… it was casual and warm. I didn't need to yell for him to know I was talking and he looked at me as if I was on equal terms with him.

"That's some job you took on, harvesting all these herbs this early in the morning."

"Look at whose talking! What were you doing in the middle of nowhere at the crack of dawn?"

It was a normal and friendly conversation between two people. We knew nothing of each other's pasts or what others saw of us. We were simply exactly who we were and both of us appreciated the change of expectations.

"What are you training for?"

"To become top dog in my own town. All the people who use to treat me like dirt will be forced to say I'm the number one ninja. And… I also have to prove a point… to a certain person I know."

Only Iruka, after years of knowing each other, had asked me that question. No one else had ever taken the time or care to ask me such a simple question. It was special. So instead of shouting out that I wanted to become Hokage I gave an honest answer with consideration to it because I knew that this person in front of me would actually hear it.

"Do you have anyone special in your life? When people are protecting something truly precious to them then they truly can become as strong as they must be."

"Yup. I know all about that."

He was the first person whose ever talked to me as if I wasn't stupid. Even Iruka often times fell into that 'tone' of voice I hated so much. It wasn't that I didn't think it was true, quite the opposite, I hated that tone because apart of me knew I was stupid. The fact that this person hadn't acted as if I was from the start gave me a warm feeling I'd never felt before. I felt as if I could talk to him forever and he would continue to treat me the same.

"You will get stronger. I know well meet again."

"Right."

The Third Hokage and Iruka are the only people in the world that's ever shown any type of confidence in me before. So even if we'd only met I felt a warmth of gratitude and kinship with him. Unfortunately we did meet again… The gentle cool breeze of the meadow was blown away by a tomb of ice that was our battlefield with us on opposite sides.


	3. Old Kind Heart

**HATE IT! I refuse to use any of this for the new one. I just... it's awful. It uses most of the tecniques I hate today. **

**(OLD) The Kindest Heart**

**Authors Note: Naruto can't read in this fic so when he attempts to I will put the actual word in parenthesies ( ) **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto **

**Chapter 1**

**Never to Forget!**

It hurt to breathe. Each gulp of air came as a relief but sent spikes of pain through his body as his limbs continued to move. He focused solely on running and pushed all thoughts of pain to the back for later. Naruto tore off his jacket and threw it to the side as he crashed through another set of thick bushes. Its thorns dug into his skin and left long cuts down his body. With his orange clothes he could easily be spotted, so he would have to come back for it later. They were gaining on him. He would have to do something if he wanted to escape them. He looked around but could only see the many trees that the Fire nation stood famous for. Damn it. He leaped up into the trees and swiftly moved from brach to branch. He shoved chakre into his already aching legs and felt his body pick up a notch in speed.

Thats when he saw it. A ledge. He moved toward it and peered down. Three stories high, maybe four, if he tried to jump it as an escape root it would either be a success or leave him with something broken. No doubt in his mind though; If he stayed up here he would be found and it would be painful. It always was. Naruto could hear them, they would be own him in a minute or two. One, two calming breaths. One, two, three steps back. One leap... Naruto ran forward and when in the air monuevered his body so that when he hit he would skidd across the ground instead of a fatal crash landing. Unlike what most believed he did pay attention in class. As he felt gravity take hold of him he tightly shut his eyes in preperation for the pain to come.

The first impact hurt the worst. His body slammed into the ground, all air leaving his lungs and Naruto cringed in pain as his leg snapped like a twig and his arms, which shielded his head and face, scrapped across the ground, barely any skin left. He rolled to a stop several feet from his first embrace with mother earth and slowly opened his eyes. His vision swam before him, almost as if it debated wheather or not to keep the boy concious, then hardened to a sight of blood in front of him. The entire skid was a bloody trail, an arrow that screamed where he was. Blast it all. He struggled to his knees and coughed harshly, little trickets of air seeping into his deprived lungs and droplets of blood flowing from cracked lips. He felt the metal peice on his leg clanked harshly with the ground and groaned. His vision wavered again as he forced his body to get up and move further into the trees nearby. He found out quickly he could put no pressure on his leg though and collapsed. He scanned the area and spotted a ditch deep enough to hide him from view when his followers looked over the cliff. He forced his body up one more time and with a gasp of pain threw himself into it.

Mud, the ditch held nothing but thick, black mud that seemed to swallow up his body. He used his hands to shove as much of it as he could over his orange pants and hissed in pain as the dirt mixed into his cuts and deep scrapes. He flattened himself to the ground and prayed they would not find him, that the blood trail wasn't that big and that his sunny blonde hair and orange pants weren't that visible. Thankfully he at least wore a black shirt under his jacket. The day, unusual for the fir country, lay chilly and he found misty breath in front of him and the mud unbearably cold against his warm skin. He bit down on his lip hard to keep himself from screaming out in pain as his body shook. Shadows from high above momentarily past across him before they dissappeared. He heaved a giant sigh of relief. He would wait a bit then drag himself out of the mud and try to attempt to find his way home. The hospital almost always refused to help him and on the rare occation they did they would be nasty about it.

Half an hour past and slowly, painfully he pulled his body out from the ditch. His leg throbbed and his arms felt like they were on fire. The day stood dimly as the sun set, the area displayed in shadows. No one would come to look for him, no one would worry wheather he was alright or not, no one would think twice about why he'd dissapeared after lunch at school that day. No, he'd given up all hope of any of that a long time ago. If something happened only he would be able to get himself out of it and if he couldn't... well that just meant he'd have to bare it. A stick broke behind him and Naruto twirled around, much to the protest of his pained body. They stood there, strong and in numbers beyond what he could ever hope to fight in his best condition with smirks on their faces. Naruto's eyes dulled a bit at the sight of them but he looked them strait in the eyes non-the-less and refused to let them win.

_***Flashback***_

_Naruto sat at his desk with his head on his arms, startiling bright blue eyes that refused to stay open framed a heart shaped face with whisker marks on each cheek. Last night he'd had another nightmare. Bodies torn apart all over the place and the very air seemed coated in blood. A battlefield of mass proportions with a fearsome red beast in the middle of it all. That 'thing' scared Naruto more than anything else. Naruto had nightmares a lot and this one stood as the most frequent, always the same no matter what. He'd walk through the dieing shinobe around him but there would be no way to help them. His fingers just slid right through them like ghosts though the difference was that they'd come back covered in blood. The blood seemed to be the only thing he could touch. The nightmare would last for hours, the deaths he saw worse than the one before the last. He'd been four when he first had the nightmare and the woman at the orphanage slapt him for waking her up with his screams. He'd cried himself back to sleep which was a frequent occurance in that place. _

_"NARUTO!" the teacher yelled. Naruto sat bolt right up and this action managed to get an array of snickers and laughs directed his way. "Could you please explain what you would do when faced with an opponent whose bigger than you?" the teacher, Kisho sensei asked. Naruto scratched the back of his kneck and laughed nervously. "Well, umm, cover your face and hope he doesn't hit hard?" Naruto suggested. Kisho smirked. Naruto grimaced. His classmates burst out in a fit of full blown laughter. "I would think, considering your lack of height, that you would pay more attention to something like this," Kisho drawled while Naruto glared at her, "but since you consider your beauty sleep more important then I would think you won't mind going to detention instead, Uzumaki." Damn. _

_Not too long after the lunch bell rang, a signal for a limited freedom. Normally Naruto would be one of those to immediately dash out the room but the nightmares the last few nights were particularly gruesome so the lack of sleep made him slower. Also still in the room asleep at his desk was one Shikamaru Nara and Chouji Akimichi who happily opened a bag of chips beside his best friend. Naruto stood up slowly as Shikamaru woke up and stretched with a yawn. His eyelids fought him every step of the way to the door, their want for the world of blissful sleep increasing every minute. On the last step of the stairs he stumbled and crashed to the floor, his bag which he'd hazardly pact this morning in his rush to get to school on time, slid across the floor its contents escaping to different areas of the class. He cursed and started to scramble to pick up his stuff when he heard a voice from behind him speak. "Tch... troublesome," Shikamaru whispered and Naruto couln't help but wonder if he meant the stuff falling or him. Shikamaru and Chouji bent down and helped gather all his stuff and replace it in his bag. Naruto smiled widely at them. "Thanks," he said and they nodded in reply. When they stood up Naruto found himself under (of all things) the watchful eyes of Shikamaru. The lazy boy seemed to be thinking hard about something and Naruto had the sneeking suspicion it had something to do with him. 'Probably thinking how big an idiot I am,' he thought with a rye smile. Chouji just smiled goodnaturedly and handed Naruto his bag. _

_When they made it outside Chouji and Shikamaru went one way and Naruto went the other, though the boys were on good terms they weren't friends. Naruto had no friends and would never have friends. It was just another thing he exccepted. He made his way over to an area far away from the school to relax under a tree. He had no lunch becuase the shopkeepers refused to sell him much except the cheap ramen cups and he had no way to boil a ramen cup here at school so he didn't bother bringing any. He hung here every day and normally practiced throwing shuriken at the tree where there already stood practice points in paint. Today though he just leaned against the trunk and fell asleep. _

_A few minutes past before he was rudely awoken by a sudden pressure on his arm. He wearily opened his eyes and waited the few seconds it took for his vision to clear. The sight that met him was that of no less than eight of his classmates. One of which held his arm in a tight grip which to someone normal would have been painful but to Naruto an unsteady hold he could easily brake. "Hey whisker freak, taking a nap?" Mintos asked snottily. "What do you want?" asked Naruto wearily. The basic routine. Any time they were bored they'd come to insult and beat the crap out of the villages outcast. "Arrogent isn't he? I say we teach him to be nice, no?" Mintos yelled to the others who shook thier heads so fast in agreement he would have sworn they'd pop off or something. Naruto tried to stand up but four sets of hands quickly shoved him back down and pinned him to the trees base. "What? The shrimp doens't want to hang out with us? My feelings are hurt." Sashi cried out before pulling his arm back and punching him in the stomache. All the air left him and he gasp for breath. More hits came and soon barely an inch of his skin remained its normal sunkissed color but an ugly black and blue shade instead. His classmates laughed each time a particularly brutal hit forced a gasp out of him and he bit down hard on his lip to prevent any more noise from coming out. They could beat him but he wouldn't scream, he'd received a lot more painful beatings than this before and would not let them have that pleasure. Naruto struggled the whole time in a desperate attempt to get free and he even managed to get in quite a few good hits, but when up agaisnt eight opponents who trained to be ninja a few good hits meant little._

_The entire lunch hour past like this and when the bell finally rang they left Naruto there reluctantly. Several minutes past before he picked himself up and began to move to his apartment. No reason to go back to school, he would only be blamed for the fight and get into more trouble. The people on the streets smirked at him with not even an ounce of restraint in their hatred for the boy. Naruto ignored them as he always did with his eyes glued to the road before him and hummed a tune to himeself to drown out the words he knew the villagers spoke every time they saw him. His hands shoved into the depths of his pockets, hair over his eyes to hide them from the world and feet moving forward without hesitation. Hesitation meant nervousness and nervousness meant weakness which to the villagers meant oppurtunity and oppurtunity to the villagers meant pain for him. _

_He wandered around for a few hours and while he did his bruises and cuts healed to a degree that it looked like nothing at all happened. His ability to heal came automatically and he found it to be both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because the pain from the beatings stopped quickly and his classmates wouldn't have the pleasure to see their work the next day. A curse because they just did it to him the next day because they weren't there and the adults could hurt him as much as they wanted without worry of bringing the Hokages wrath. Someone who couldn't fight back and who'd have no proof of what took place because by time he woke up the evidence would be gone. Villagers could no longer touch him because he'd learned how to escape them a long time ago, no only the shinobe could hurt him now, and hurt him they did. _

_A pair of large feet stepped in front of him so he stepped to the side to avoid them and found that they moved with him. He looked up to see a large man in both weight and height before him with several men behind him who looked just as fearsome and every one of them with a leaf headband somewhere on their body.. He took several steps back but they mimicked him by taking several steps forward. He turned around in an attempt to run but found more there as well. Only one option. He turned to his left and sprinted up a set of boxes to the roof and forced himself to move as fast as he could toward his apartment. Unfortunetly there seemed to be absolutely no one up there that liked him because the men after him also took the roofs right on his trail. Some times if he left hurriedly they wouldn't bother to chase him. Damn it all to hell... He moved faster but found that the path to his apartment was blocked by a few of the men who'd somehow made it ahead of him. He quickly changed direction to the Hokage tower but found that blocked as well. Shit. The forest seemed to be the only place to head now... They obviously wanted him to go there and he had little choice in the matter. The forest held little chance of escape but a little chance was a better percentage than zero._

_***End of flashback***_

The pain came in waves. The shinobe brutally yanked him from the ground and smashed his body into one of the nearby trees, where they proceeded to tie him to it. The ropes dug into his skin as they tightened to the point his wrists would brake. His ankles were done the same treatment. All the while Naruto thrashed against them, his leg and arms a steady flow of agony. "Is the little piece of trash scared?" The big man said as he leaned in close to Narutos face. He could smell the alcohol on the mans breath and gaged. The man hicupped and fell heavily against him, the impact of the mans body hitting his chest made him weez in pain. The man fumbled and with the help of his drunk friends managed to get to his feet again. They laughed and joked but mostly just looked at him with a hungry glint in their eyes.

"We got hours to have fuunhh wit you and noboooody gonna looook for ya," one man slurred happily and the others gave a belching laugh. For the next hour or so they each took turns to beat him and unlike this afternoon he screamed with each hit that came. These were shinobe and they held nothing back. When finally the torrent of fists and kicks subsided Naruto's jaw, nose and several ribs were broken. His right wrist broke from his struggle to get loose and his leg felt ten times worse than it had before. Several of the ribs and organs where bruised. Blood flowed from several deep gashes the men made with kunia. Naruto lost conciousness about fourtyfive minutes into the beating.

The night stood radiant with bright stars and no clouds in sight. The men sang around a bonfire and drank in celebration, sure the festival to celebrate the Yodaimes defeat of the Nine tails wasn't for another week but they'd all been on edge lately from so many missions so why not celebrate a little early. A Chuunin with a scar across his lips smiled wickedly as he looked into the fire. "HO... I'se got an idea 'bout somethan we can do to the wretched brat!" He exclaimed. The men looked at him with mixtures of smiles and smirks. The Chuunin took out a single Kunai and let the flames lick the blade into a reddish orange glow. As the kunia lit up he explained his brilliant plan, that a now somewhat awake Naruto listened to with growing horror and panic.

The big man made his way over to Naruto while the Chuunin spilled his plans and Naruto shied away as the man put hot fingers to his half frozen face. The chilly day had turned into a cold night and Naruto was tied up far enough away from the fire that no heat reached him. "Such a young little thing... wonder if you'd be a good fuck," the man whispered into Naruto's ear. Naruto pulled his head up as high as he could and spit into the mans face. "Why you little basterd!" The man furiosly yelled. He tightly rapped his large hand around Narutos mouth as the boy struggled desperately to get away. The grip on his already broken jaw made tears appear at the corner of his eyes. The big man slammed his other fist into Narutos stomache and he puked out a mixture of stomache acid and blood and found himself choking on it as the liquid hit the mans hand and the man forced Naruto to swallow it again to avoid suffocation. It hurt so bad and the erge to throw again returned as it burned down his throat. The man glared at him but then looked up to see the others coming. He smirked at Naruto before taking several steps back.

The Chuunin stepped forward out of the group brandishing the glowing kunie in his hand. Naruto glared weakly at them though inwardly panic and fear gripped him and made his hands shake. "Were going to give you a reminder of what you really are so that you'll NEVER forget it..." The Chuunin leered at the ten year old as one of the men twisted his arm painfully. Naruto screamed out and tried to pull away but another man yanked his hair up and smashed his head against the tree. He could feel sticky liquid running down his neck and for a moment his vision blacked. The Chuunin smiled and rammed the kunie into his arm... and carved a word down its length.

D

E

M

O

N

Naruto screamed as the letters were burned into his arm, the blood spluttered all over the Chuunin which seemed to only make the man more bent on his task. Finished he pulled the now dark bloodied kunie out and smiled widely at him. The smile scared Naruto to his core, its lines cruel and bloodthirsty. Tears ran down his face as he sobbed. This was the worst beating he'd ever recieved. Another of the men came over to the group with a freshly heated kunie. "NO, PLEASE DON'T!" Naruto screamed as the man stepped in front of him. The man pulled up what was left of Naruto's shirt and began to carve the kanji for fox into his stomache. Naruto's scream turned into a fit of coughs with blood seeping down his chin. Four more times did men from the group come up with heated kunie... BASTERED was carved into his left theigh, TRASH into left hand, DEATH carved into his right broken leg and the last one that hurt the most. The big man came up to him and slowly carve WORTHLESS across his heart.

Naruto lost conciousness agian as the L was carved directly over his heart. He did not wake up for antoher sixteen hours and when he did he screamed in pain until he blacked out again. As the fire died away the men left, their frames dissapearing into the shadows of the forest. Half a day later Naruto finally managed to get free after several black outs and immese pain. All his minor injuries already healed. Only his broken bones remained as his chakre continued to thread them together. The words though stayed, no longer bleeding and healed into a scarr like state. '_NEVER to forget'. _

It took Naruto the rest of the day to get to his apartment building in the run down part of the village. He limped, covered in blood and mud from head to foot, his clothes in tatters and with his scarred arm holding his chest with a look of intense agony on his face. Some who saw smirked, some outright laughed but the ones that hurt the most were the people who outright ignored his existence. Who walked by without a glance. No one would help... no one ever did. Thats how life was. He passed the homeless, the drug dealers and all the other types you find on these streets in his neiborhood. He would not be missed at the academy. They would just assume he'd skipped like they always did. Naruto made it up the stairs and then to his numbered door.

When inside he went strait to the bathroom and without even taking his clothes off turned on the water. His body slid agaisnt the wall until he sat in the tub, allowing the water to wash away all the blood and dirt, both dry and wet, on his body and clothes. His leg hung loosely out of the tub, it hurt too much to let the water hit it. His hair died red from so much blood began to show pieces of its bright yellow mop. He closed his eyes and let the warm water drenched his body and let himself sob quietly. Not loudly, never loudly that would let them know that they won and he wouldn't allow that. He wasn't sure how long he stayed there or if he even stayed concious because when he opened his eyes next the water poured over him, the liquid cold and the tub overflowing slightly. He turned off the water and left. He peeled away all of his clothes and fell onto his bed and let himself truly leave the waking world and enter a dreamless sleep.

The next time he woke he peered at the clock to see that school began an hour ago. His bones were healed, but still the words remained . Naruto bit down on his lip to keep from crying. 'Yeah thats right Naruto just keep crying forever, crybaby. That will show them you idiot...' Naruto snarled at himself in disgust. He shoved himself out of bed and found that even if he was technically healed his body still felt horrible. Every movement sent a jolt of pain ripping through his body. He didn't want to stay in this village any more. Didn't want to face them any more or try to smile at them or act as if everything was alright. More than anything else he didn't want to fight any more.

**Chapter 2 **

**The difference between a mask and whats real!**

Naruto moved over to where his closet stood and nudged around the contents until he pulled out a set of clothing. A pair of black pants and a black hoodie. He searched his house for bandages and rapped them around the scarrs before putting the clothes on over them. He also slipt bandanges around his face so that they covered his damned whisker marks. Naruto bought the black pair of clothes the last time he'd tried to run away and hid them in his jacket from the Ambu who 'retrieved' him. His orange clothes really would be his death one day... Probably what the vendor was thinking when she sold it to him. Clothes, like food, was difficult for him to obtain so when someone offered to sell he wasn't going to complain... even if they looked terrible. Next he found his small sidebag. With his body in so much pain he doubted he'd be able to carry anything heavier. He stuffed it with the standard shinobe survival kit, money and as much food as it would hold.. mostly ration bars. The last thing he grabbed was a black bandana that he used to cover his bright blonde hair.

He exited his apartment and passed a whore looking longingly at one of the men further down the hallway. Her braw peeked out from clothes clearly too tight on her rather large bust and shorts that barely passed what would be consider underwear. She grabbed Naruto's shoulder just before he could leave her area of reach and he hissed in pain from the contact. She leaned over his shoulder and cooed in his ear. "Whats the hurry brat? Not like the'll notice your worthless hide missen in school any way..." Naruto yanked away from her just as her fake nails began to carress his cheek. "Ahh did I hurt little Narutos feelings?" She asked in a too sweet voice as he moved quickly away. Naruto left on one of the less used paths and hid behind a brick wall. With years of practice he slipt through the gates of Konoha at just the moment when both guards looked away. He prided himself in this particular accomplishment. He didn't think any of his classmates could sneek out of Konoha with as much ease as him.

He'd already been 'missing' for a day and a half so he estimated it would be about another half day before anyone really noticed his absence. That gave him six to twelve hours to get as far away from Konoha as possible. At top form he could avoid Ambu for about two weeks, at the form he was in now he'd say about three days tops. So he'd have to get to open water and use streams and rivers to get away before that time limit hit. So he chose a path that would lead around the Hokage mountain and to an array of rivers that led to a port city he'd heard about.

Iruka looked around the classroom and fidgeted behind his desk. All of his students were present except for Naruto and this made the man worried. He hadn't been at school at all yesterday and the day before he'd skipped after lunch. Naruto was awkward, clumsy and an all around screw up but he always tried his hardest and for that Iruka held nothing but respect. He knew the boy didn't miss school, for the most part, on purpose. The teachers were divided into divisions for the level at which the students stood. There were four teachers for both levels. The begginners, 7-9 year olds and the genin hopefuls, 10-12 year olds. For the genin hopefuls Iruka was the first teacher that the students saw each morning for history and ninjutsu, after that came Kisho who taught _senjutsu _and genjutsu, next came an hour lunch, then Mizuki who taught weapons use and basic taijutsu, the last teacher Shiki taught chakre control and theory.

He peered around his class to see if any of his students noticed Narutos absence as well. It was a well known fact that Naruto possessed not a single friend and was an orphan, their attitude towards him was something that made Iruka sick to his stomache. There were a few though that seemed to at least like him a bit. These students Iruka respected greatly. Hinata seemed dismal today, her shy behavior even more apparent than usual. Shikamaru seemed to have a cold glint in his eyes as he would periodically look over to Narutos seat while Choiji merely had a frown on his face even as he chewed on another bag of chips. Shino appeared to be impassive as usual but Iruka knew to watch the boys hands, their usual calmly folded form were apart and twitched slightly every few minutes. Kiba was louder than normal, and that was saying something. Sasuke, to all the world, appeared just as impassive as Shino but to Irukas trained eye he noticed the slightest of frowns on the geniuses face. They all noticed Narutos strange behavior the last few days and found his absence troubling. You couldn't train students to be shinobe and expect them not to notice things.

He waited patiently for the end of the day to come and the moment the bell rang, dissapeared in a puff of smoke. He headed towards Narutos apartment first thing, his eyes wearlily trained on the people around him. He'd not been happy when he learned of where Naruto lived and complained to the Hokage but found that it was the only place in the village that would let him have an apartment. When he came to Narutos place he stood there for a few moments staring at the doorknob, the metal covered in blood. "Naruto!" Iruka yelled banging on the door. When he gained no reply he used a jutsu to force his way into the apartment. Blood. Blood and mud all over the floor leading to the bathroom. Iruka rushed into the bathroom and nearly stumbled in shock of all the blood that covered the bath tub. Shit, shit shit. This was not good. "NARUTO!" Iruka yelled agian and rushed through the rest of the apartment. He found Narutos clothes soaking wet and torn to shreds with deep blood and mud stains. Iruka shoved them under his arm and with chakre inhanced leaps made his way to the Hokage tower.

Naruto made his way down the streets of the first town he'd arrived at about ten minutes before hand, the hoodie firmly pulled over his head. He also placed bandages around his mouth and cheeks to hide his whisker marks so the only thing that could be seen were his piercing blue eyes. He made his way at a leisurely pace, any faster would look suspicious and then the Ambu would be able to catch him that more easily. His stupid body wore out every half an hour because of the stupid beating, so progress was painfully slow. He made his way to a restaurant and sat down in the corner. The one thing he loved most about being outside of Konoha would have to be that no one threw him out of their stores and restaurants. He ordered dango and tea and the woman smiled at him sweetly. SWEETLY! It sent a chill of pleasure through his bean. No adult ever smiled at him. No, that wasn't true. Iruka smiled at him like that sometimes, when he wasn't yelling at him for something or another.

Thats when he saw them. Ambu. No dog though, so they couldn't smell him out. Also his chakre, which normally was higher than most Jonin was next to nill at the moment. It was the reason he chose to run now because it was his chakre signature that always got him caught and he knew that his healing ability ate away at his chakre like nothing else so his chakre signiture would be farely low for the next few days. Naruto bent his head down so that they wouldn't see his eyes and while he felt a pair of eyes linger on his form for a bit, it soon dissapeared. His dango and tea arrived just as the three Ambu left. He thanked the woman profusely who smiled back at him and when no one was looking snuck him an extra stick of dango.

The next town he settled down beneath a roof hangover and slept. He didn't have the money to pay for an inn and would refrain from doing so unless it rained... hard. He did, however, buy a map though grudgingly. Naruto had a difficult time reading and took several hours and much asking around to figure out what the road instructions said. Many of the teachers ignored him when he wanted to ask a question or made him stand outside the classroom...

_***Fashback***_

_That day the teacher he'd met at opening ceremony, a large man with a tiny goatee, stood at the front of the class in full blown lecture mode. The topic he leered on about was Senjutsu ( Strategy). Naruto paid close attention as not to miss anything. But he didn't understand something that the man said because of his rapid explanations. So he raised his hand to ask him a question. A minute went by and then two and then five and he continued to raise his hand but the teacher just ignored it as if the he wasn't there. A girl, Ami? Raised her hand and the teacher smiled and immediately pointed to her. "What did you mean when you said that a shinobes most basic strategy is to lane with the second move? Why not just do it with the first?" Ami asked. The man smiled, "Good question, most shinobe are able to dodge the first strike as it's the most obvious but the second strike is far more difficult to read. So a good strategy would be to use your first strike as merely a diversion. The same goes when facing an enemy that there's a good chance the first hits a feint." Ami shook her head slowly in understanding as the teacher continued on with his lecture. All the while the blondes hand never left the air. Finally the man looked his way, directly at him and then... just turned away.. That dismissal of him hurt a lot. His hand faultered for a secound but only for a secound. "Sensie?" The blonde spoke loudly interupting their teacher mid-rant. Naruto again was shocked when the man glared acidly at him. What did he do wrong? "NARUTO! You may only speak when I call on you. Don't you have any manners at all?" the teacher seethed. Children all around them snickered and a good numbered out right laughed at the blonde. "I.. I just.. wanted to ask a question," Naruto spoke quietly. "You will serve detention this afternoon for your lack of manners," the man said irritably with just a hint of satifaction hidden underneath. Naruto stayed quiet and his shoulders shook slightly but he just smiled widely and looked away, out the window, where he continued to stare at for the rest of the lecture._

_***End of Flashback***_

He woke up to the sounds of a struggle. The sound of trash crushed and shoved out of the way by a crowd of burly men, down an alley way and a dozen feet to the left, forced him to reluctantly open his heavy lidded eyes. His body still hurt a lot and his sleep on the cold hard ground did little to ease those pains. He pushed himself off the ground and trudged over to the offensive area. As he got closer the sound of a small child crying immediately caused his limbs to move as fast as possible. Years of experience told him exactly what he would find even before his sight veered inside the alleys shadows. Seven or eight men stood before a whimpering child with brownish blonde hair that reached down to her back. Ugly black marks in the form of fingerprints covered her arms, throat and ankles. She couldn't be more than six or seven. Her eyes shut tight and arms in front of her to fend off their ruthless attacks. The men were in the act of ripping off her clothes with taunts and leers of what would happen shortly.

Horrible memories of similar instances raced through his mind, the most recent especially painful. Naruto ground his teeth in anger. These 'pigs' would pay for this, even if his body hurt like hell he would make sure of it. Naruto rushed the first man within his reach and slammed his fist into his gut. The man gasped in pain and before he even hit the ground the ten year old moved on to his next victim. He jumped into the air and delivered a brutal kick to the mans chest that sent him in the air and against the wall with a crack that he knew sounded from the mans head. Now that the others were aware of their attacker they pulled an array of weapons, from polls to rustly looking knives, from the depths of their clothes. Naruto landed in a crouched position and threw himself at his next opponet, though to the mans surprise instead of a hit Naruto slipt between the mans legs and behind him, where he shoved his elbow into the mans spinal cord with such force it would be a long time before the man would walk again. Naruto roughly pushed the parralized man into one man with a sharp piece of long glass as his weapon. Most likely a piece of the trash around them. The glass went into the companion of the man Naruto pushed who let out a scream of agony. Four down... Four to go. Thats when he noticed it...

The headband that lay tied to one of the mens theighs. That ment at least he, if not these losers, held the title shinobe which meant it was about time he got out of there, but not without the girl. The shinobe had not made a move thus far but merely watched in amusement as his idiot companions managed to get beaten by a mere shrimp. The boy dodged with the experience, the shinobe noted, that only a high Chuunin should have. Who the hell was he?

Naruto twisted his body every which way to avoid the make shift weapons and fists aimed at him and quickly found himself beside the shaking figure. However, before he could pick the girl up and scram a foot slammed into his head and sent him against the wall in a heap. He gasped in pain as he felt several of his wounds reopen. With a few coughs and a lot of will power he forced himself to his feet once more and glared at the shinobe. The man stood at least 6' 2, more than one and a half the height of Naruto himself. His hair a dark shade of blue that stood almost black and eyes that shown a dark brown, its edges lined with yellow. His Hitai-ate revealed him to be a shinobe of Rain. They were not Konoha's allies so why would one of their shinobe be around here?

The man peered curiously at the boy as blood began to appear on bandages of his left hand. "Go get someone else to fuck kid, this ones mine..." The man sneered. Anger coursed through him and Naruto shoved every ounce of his chakre into his legs. The shinobe gaped as one second the boy was there and the next he wasn't. A fist slammed into his jaw and the man staggered back. Naruto grabbed the girl who yelped in surprise and bent his legs. With the last of his chakre Naruto leaped into the air and over the buildings edge. Naruto slid several dozen yards across the cement roof and when balanced again made his way down with a few dangerous manuevers before he took off down a side street to continue his mad dash. This continued for half an hour before his lungs gave out and he looked for a place to collapse. He found an abandoned building and leaned heavily against its brick walls. He felt his legs give out but kept the girl firmly held in his arms even when he found his vision begin to seep into black. "Damn it," he whispered. Thats when the girl finally looked up into his eyes and he saw a beautiful shade of grayish-blue that seemed to glimmer in the shadows that hid them with an outer ring of purple. Shock made him stare as the little one snuggled up against him and fell asleep. He wondered to himself if it was the girls eyes that shocked him or another person being so close to him. Unless for a beating, no one ever got that close. Naruto fought for several minutes before he too drifted into darknesses warm embrace.

_The Anoak Sight_

_Naruto looked around and found himself in an area unfamiliar to him. No where could he see the buildings that surrounded him when he fell unconsious nor did he see the little girl that he'd held in his arms. Instead he stood in what appeared to be the middle of no where beside a dirt road. Off in the distance the sun threw a brilliant display of pinks, oranges and red across the horizon that seemed to stretch its fingers out on to the road as if it knew that someone would need it to be there. Not long after Naruto heared the sounds of a wagon that travered down the road. He tried to see who the travelers were but to no avail. So he waited and watched until, to his utter surprise, the wagon stopped right in front of him. A woman who looked remarkably like the little girl stepped out of the wagon but instead of the soft smile that graced the childs face before she fell asleep in his arms this woman held a weary almost scared look on her face. The woman pulled something out of the wagon and Naruto stared in shock as he saw the girl practically thrown onto the side of the road. The girls sobs broke his heart and he tried to help her but to his horror it was just like his own nightmares. His hands seeped right threw her... as if he didn't exist. _

_The girl sobbed and got up and tried to go back to the woman but she sent a venomous glare down at the child that stopped her in her tracks. "Don't you get it you stupid child? WE DON'T WANT YOU! I can't take anymore of you, you little freak! Just leave us alone and die!" The woman spat. The girl fell to her knees as the woman got back into the wagon and it began to move away. "MOMMY! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME MOMMY!" The little girl screamed. Naruto sat beside her and even though he knew she couldn't hear him he tried to comfort her by talking to her. He told her that he would never leave her alone, that he didn't think she was a freak and that he would get her some food and clothes. She sobbed there for a long time and the whole time he just sat there and continued to whisper anything and everything that he thought might comfort the distraught child before him. Then it all seemed to simply fade away..._

Naruto opened his eyes to find himself back in the abandoned building with the child in his arms. Her eyes cracked open a bit and then they opened to the fullest capacity, surprise and fear evident in them. She sprang away from Naruto and his cheeks grew red when he realized she wore only a shirt that held so many tears in its seams it was useless and a pair of undergarments in just as bad condition. He looked away and pulled off his hoodie in one swift movement, then handed it to her. She looked even more surprised but snatched it out of his outstretched hand and put it on. Naruto himself was much smaller than he should be for his age and the girl just the perfect size for hers so even though Naruto was at least three years older than the girl his hoodie only went to just above her knees and the sleeves only went past her hands by a few inches. Several uncomfortable minutes went by in silence before she spoke.

"Ddd don't you hhhate me?" The small soft voice asked. Naruto winced. If the positions were switched he knew he would have asked the same thing or just stayed quiet until the stranger said something. As a kid he barely spoke at all, he'd be hit a lot if he talked too much. "Of course not, otherwise I would have left you in the alley instead of saving you," he said seriously. A smile he kept for those he lied to everyday. He refused to show any of his fake cheer around her because of all the people who smiled at 'him' and then hurt him. Outside of Konoha he let himself slipt out of his facade. Of course she couldn't see any of that anyways with the bandages around his face. He knew though that his tone of voice spoke volumes. He watched as she looked at him with obvious distrust. Then her eyes saw the many bandages that seeped red because the they were now visible without the hoodie on. "Your bleeding!" She gasped and he looked down with mild surprise to see that it was true. His hand, arm, leg and chest wounds all reopened when he fought and ran. He'd felt the pain but until that moment ignored it. "Don't worry, its not as bad as it looks," Naruto assured her but she wouldn't listen and knelt down beside him and examined his arm, hand and chest. His shirts were slightly too big for him and his sleeve would periodically slip down his arm, so much of the bandages showed where the heart was.

Naruto shook his head as she looked at him so worriedly but secretly memorized it in his memories. He doubted he would ever get to see any one ever give him that look again. She bit her lip and looked down. "I'm sooo soo sorry," she whispered. "I told you, don't worry about it and none of it was your fault anyways," Naruto stated firmly. "...but, I... I. Its my fault you got hurt and I dragged you into my nightmare!" Her voice first low and then rose with each word. Tears threatened to pour from the corners of her eyes as she raised her gaze to meet his. "Nahh, I got hurt before that by people a lot stronger then those wimps... And as for that nightmare thing. Well I'm not worried about that at all. Your Mom... She was wrong to do that to you... I want you to know that." Naruto said quietly. His words like a secret for only them to share. "...but" The girl sniffed loudly. "I make people have nightmares all the time and drag them into mine and... and everyones scared of me and don't like me." Her voice was now low again and Naruto had to strain to hear her last part. "Thats not so bad... compared to me at least. And I have nightmares all the time so its nothing knew." He told her. She looked up at him, her eyes full of questions. "Wwwhat do you mean... compared to you?" She asked. Naruto grimaced, he hadn' t meant to be so truthful. The girl just seemed to drag out all his inner thoughts and not even the Hokage could do that anymore.

He'd spent years of hard work to make sure no one knew how he really felt and she dragged it out of him in only a few minutes. He wasn't stupid though, he knew she'd be disgusted by him or down right frightened the moment she found out. She somehow held the abilitly to see and cause nightmares but he _**was**_ a nightmare. "Well," Naruto said carefully, "my entire village hates me because... of something that happened the day I was born. A lot of peole died that day and... they blame me for it." The girl tilted her head a bit. "Well thats stupid," she exclaimed. "How could they blame you for something that happened the day you were _born?_" Naruto winced and looked away. "Why don't I get you some warm food and clothes, huh?" Naruto asked her. She smiled softly and took the bate for a change of subject. Naruto jumped in surprise when he felt a slight pressure on his right hand and looked down. The girl eyed the ground and her body was tense as if she feared he would force her to let go. Though she couldn't see it his lips twitched slightly and then grew into a small smile. It had been a VERY long time since he'd smiled for real.

They moved down the street and Naruto bought her a few freshly made rice balls and warm tea. When she asked why he didn't get anything for himself he just waved it off and said he wasn't hungry. In reality his stomache snapped at him angrily but he ignored it. He didn't have enough money to support him _and_ the girl so he would just have to go hungry for a bit. Not like he hadn't done it before when the orphanage forced him onto the streets... Besides the girl obviously hadn't had a decent meal for at least a few weeks and Naruto flinched a bit when he thought back to some of the things he'd had to resort to in order to get a meal before the Hokage found out and began to give him stiffens (spelling?). He'd save the ration bars he packed for later on when he really needed it. The girl looked at him strangely and Naruto noted that she was very intelligent for a little girl, though on the streets you had to be to survive. When he entered the clothing store he quickly picked out the a white shirt and slightly baggy pants that looked quite warm and seemed to be her size, not to mention held a relatively affordable price. She said nothing but he knew she didn't really like the colors. He bent down and looked her strait in the eyes. "There not pretty but these will keep you warm and.. I don't know I might be able to get you something later on... k?" Naruto asked. She smiled broadly, "you don't have to do that I like these just fine," she said fiercely.

Naruto smiled under the bandages but then it dissapeared to be replaced with a frown when he realized something. "By the way... whats your name?" Naruto asked with a mental slap to his forehead as to why he didn't ask her earlier. A pink tinge touched her cheeks and she looked down at the ground. "Its... Abby..., Abby.. Remis." "Well, Abby Remis... My name is Naruto Uzumaki and its a pleasure to meet ya," Naruto said cheerfully. Her pink tinger turned into a full blown red hue that threatened to send him into full blown laughter, but he only allowed a small chuckle escape his lips. It felt good, to be his self around someone. He played the overly excited cluz so much around people continiously and without pause when inside the village and only the Ambu whose job it was to track him down when he ran knew otherwise. The Sadaime knew about his real personality as well, but Naruto lost his trust in the old man a few years back and refused to show him anything but his mask since.

Naruto looked at her with a critical eye after the purchase. Not an inch of skin stood white with all the dirt on her body and her hair, though you could tell its color, looked stringy and greasy. He took her hand and, with the instructions of a shopkeeper, headed towards the bath house of the towns. When they arrived he purchased a single token for a bar of soap and towl and then pointed her in the direction of the ladies area. However this proved to be quite difficult. "Your gonna leave me!" Abby accused, tears at the corner of her eyes. "No, I swear, I'll be right here when you get back," Naruto assured her but she refused to believe him. She clutched onto his leg with one hand and his waist with the other, her head barried in his stomache. "Look, I'm gonna just sit against the wall right here and wait for you to finish cleaning up, I promise I won't leave," Naruto protested. The girl just gripped him tighter and Naruto looked around desperately for an answer but found nothing.

The receptionist peered at the brother figure with a pitying look before her gaze stopped on the little girl with a thoughtful eye. The boy looked about nine though he might have been younger, she couldn't tell with his face hidden like that. "It usually costs a lot more but I'll make an exception for you in concern to your situation young man. You can have a private bath for you and the girl if she's really that scared," The woman said kindly. A dust of red peeped out from the boys bandages which made the woman smile almost sadisticly in amusement. "As long as you promise to behave that is..." The woman added. The boy, in her opinion, seemed very trustworthy and she knew with some sort of sixth since that he would never manipulate a child in any way, so it was with great pleasure that she teased him. Her opinion seemed to be confirmed that when the boy turned several shades red from embarresment and anger that she would even suggest such a thing. The girl, oblivious to the implications she joked about just smiled that the boy wouldn't leave her after all. That made her wonder how a nine year old would get what she meant, when she teased him she hadn't expected for him to actually know. "Hey kid, how old are you?" She asked. Naruto hesitated, weary to answer this strangers question but figured it couldn't hurt anything and plus he didn't want her to change her mind about the room. "Gonna be elevan in four days." That answer sent her realing. Such a small child couln't be elevan, it just wasn't possible. Thats when her eyes caught the boys hand and arm, bloody bandages covered both. Her eyes widened in surprise. How the hell could she not have noticed those?

It took Naruto nearly half an hour to persway the woman that she didn't need to send him to the hospital and the entire time Abby continued to switch her gaze from Naruto to the woman and back again. Several times she opened her mouth to comment only to have Naruto put his hand over her mouth which resulted in a permanent glare on her face. When they got into the room Naruto turned towards the wall as Abby removed his hoodie and slipped into the warm water. While she scrubbed the grime off her body he opened his pack and pulled out fresh bandages. He ground his teeth as slowly, the dried blood making the bandages difficult to pry away, came undone. His body positioned just so, so Abby could see only a bloody arm and not the word carved into it. Her small gasp caused a slightly guilty look to enter his eyes. He didn't want her to see how badly hurt he was, he didn't need her to worry about him. Then he laughed at himself. Someone worry about him? The worthless trash? Hahahahha. He really did think weird things sometimes.

Never the less he quickly changed all his bandages and replaced his shirt and hoodie on afterwards. They stayed there for a few hours and the whole time he made sure to be careful about not turning around. The main reason they stayed so long was because Abby seemed to enjoy it immensely and Naruto didn't blame her. The first bath he'd taken after he got him apartment he'd stayed in there for half a day an continued to fill the tub with warm water. In the time of their stay he found out that she was six years old and that her birthday was in April, six months from now. She came from a village called Clamorous that resided on the border of the fire and wind nation. She told him how she loved to draw but how her mommy didn't like most of her drawings because they came from the dreams and nightmares people had in the house. She drew sketches of peoples everyday life which her mommy did like though so she tried to draw those the most but always ended up with the other drawings. Naruto didn't miss the slight strain in the girls voice when she spoke of her mom but was glad that the girl opened up to him. In turn he told her about the ramen stand where Mr. Chief and his daughter Ayame worked.

His reward came with a laugh that quickly turned into a gurgle as the child slipt beneath the waters warmth then resurfaced a few moments later, the laughter down to a small giggle. When Abby finished up and dressed Naruto rumaged through the pack he'd brought and spread the last of his ointment on the girls cuts that, thankfully, were quite shallow. The men probably just began their 'fun' with her when he arrived. He bandaged up all her cuts and she winced when he tugged at one a little too hard but otherwise made no noise. "Sorry," he whispered but she just looked down at the floor a slight tinge of pink across her cheeks. He frowned a bit in understanding. Afraid to say anything in fear that he would hate her for her thoughts, for her very nerve to say something, as if she held no right to speak. He still found himself falling into that habit sometimes, even though he found out long ago it didn't matter wheather he spoke or not, they would still hate him.

It took every nerve he held to be so loud in the academy. He'd forced himself to be that way just so he wouldn't dissapear. Naruto had never held a conversation with anyone at the academy and very few outside of the school. The closest he ever came to a conversation was the shouting matches with Sasuke, which was the main reason he started them. If anyone paid any attention at all they'd notice that even though he yelled a lot and always shouted he did't actually talk much. When he first arrived at the academy he didn't shout or yell at all, sometimes he'd go a week without uttering a single word. No one 'ever' wanted to talk to 'him' and if he tried to start a conversation they gave him glares, ignored him, insulted him or told him to leave. Slowly it got to the point were it felt like he didn't actually exist, as if he'd dissapeared and been swallowed in a pit of darkness. He sank into a numb state. He would arrive at school but no one looked at him, no one spoke to him, no one reacted in _**any**_ way to his presence at all. A living corpse. Alive and able to move but not able to exist or interact in any way.

He remembered just sitting there and suddenly it felt as if someone turned off all sound completely. He looked up from the desk and around the room to find that the teacher was indeed talking but he couldn't hear what the man said. He panicked and thought for a few moments that he'd actually, finally just died. He stood up and tripped in his panic and fear and fell hard against the wooden floor. Everyone looked at him like he was nuts and started to whisper. Naruto didn't care because he could hear them again, could feel thier eyes on him, saw the glare the teacher directed at him. Relief flooded his system. He'd caused a reaction,_ he _made them look in his direction. That moment he almost cried in pleasure. No concern showed in their eyes, just an interest for a split second and a smirk of contempt on some. He could care less though, something was better than nothing. From then on he interrupted class as much as he could, yelled and generally became an obnocious fool just so he wouldn't have to feel that horrible numbness again. He feared that more than anything, even **him... **He gave up long ago on all attempts at any good attention and instead setteled on the bad attention. He gladly dealt with all the criticism, all the condemnation and yelling because it meant someone was paying attention to him. If he could get people to see him even for an instant then he didn't feel completely alone and if his antics made people smile for a bit and forget about their own problems then at least he wasn't completely worthless.

The mask he created was one he performed on numerous occations in front of the villagers and Jiji. A smile just a bit too big, voice overly loud, an annoying tone to bring a rise in everyone around him, but the real performance was the laugh. The most difficult piece because it needed to 'sound' real instead of look real. It could hold no hint of anything but energy and happiness. All of these elements held together the perfect performance that left no room to debate its authenticity. He'd wanted to pretend to be someone else in hopes that maybe, just maybe they wouldn't hate him so much. Thats why he picked someone that could make people smile instead of someone who made people cold and cruel. Halfway through his first year at the academy, shortly after the perfection of this mask he found out that no matter what he did it wouldn't matter. The day that the third Hokage, the man he saw as a grandfather betrayed him...

He hoped that the girl hadn't suffered anything too cruel and that he could help her some way. He would not abandon her but at the same time his heart screamed at him, begged him not to do what the only option seemed to suggest. Going back to Konoha. He could not and would no subject a little girl to such a rough and painful life as to take her with him on the run. He knew that he had to find a family for her and to do that out here would be near impossible, especially with her... bloodline? Gift? Curse? To go back would be similiar to shoving a knife in his gut and twisting real hard until his intestines spilled over the ground. He'd done so well so far and his chakre would still be depleted for the next few days. He could have made it to the ports, he knew he could. Damn it all to hell. The girl, Abby, was more important though. It would hurt to see her go with a family but it was best thing for her and he would be a selfish, not to metion stupid, brat to try and take care of her himself. His home, in disrepair, was not place for her. His neiborhood was dangerous for genin during the day, night time it became dangerous for even Chunin. Not to mention what the villagers would do to her if they knew that she associated with _him._ He shuddered at the thought. He'd sneak her name and picture into the orphans waiting list and watch her until then. That in itself would be difficult, his stiffuned from the Hokage barely covered his bills and food for the week. The money he'd brought with him would have lasted him two or three weeks and only because he had rations _and_ could go about three days without eating anything before he past out. He'd found that out the hard way. With the girl though... Well at least he could avoid going back to Konoha for his birthday. Man, he hated his birthday more than anything else.

**Chapter 3**

**The worst day of the year...**

Naruto and Abby walked down the street as the sky began to dip into the dusk of day. Shadows jumped and moved around the two and Naruto found himself begin to hover over the little girl in a protective manner. He found an inn for them and quickly paid the man at the desk before the two entered the room. She peered in curiously and squeeled excitedly when she saw the bed. She ran into the room and immediately snuggled under the covered with only a fraction of hair to be seen. He smiled and let his bag drop to the floor as he closed the door behind him. "Hey, Naruto?" Abbys muffled voice asked. "Hmmm?" Naruto replied. "Where are we going?" She asked. "We're gonna go to Konoha..." Naruto said quietly. Her head popped out of the blankets and she made a face. "Isn't that were the stupid people live?" She asked. Naruto let a small laugh escape. "Just because their not nice to me doesn't mean that the people are bad. Actually their very kind." Naruto told her. "That doesn't make any since. Either people are mean or their nice, they can't be both!" She declared. "What if the people think their doing something good by getting rid of something they think is bad? Then are they bad for trying to protect the people they care about even if they hurt somebody?" Naruto asked her, his voice still quiet. She closed her mouth for a few minutes then answered. "Only if that person did something really, really terrible to the people they care about on purpose, if it was an accident then there bad," she answered.

Naruto sighed heavily and sat on the bed. It was a good answer. His hand wandered down and touched it... The band hidden and secure on his right leg. Its cold metal sent a chill through him every time he thought about it. The metal pipe that went strait through his leg and attached itself to the otherside. If he moved it too much blood would show up at the exit and entry points. It was about that time again. The last time stood five months and two weeks ago. His hand traveled up to his stomache where he knew the marks would appear if he applied chakre. It would appear on its own in a few days without his command... On his birthday.

"The people of Konoha care deeply about each other and are willing to do anything to keep each other safe," Naruto explained, "the Hokage of our village, the Sadaime, would sacrifice everything for the sake of the village he loves." _'Including me.' _"He's a kind, powerful old man who tries to help everyone around him. The village is full of shinobe who protect the citizens and maintain peace." Abby smiled and nodded but frowned softly after a moment. "They still shouldn't be mean to you," she said stubbornly. Naruto hesitated but then ruffled her hair like he'd seen some parents do to their children. He wasn't really sure what it did but he knew he wanted someone to do it to him just once... "Lets just go to bed, k?" Naruto said. Neither had extra clothes so the six year old just snuggled deeper under the covers and let out a contented sigh. Naruto shrugged off his hoodie and placed it behind him as he lay against the wall.

Abby looked up and frowned again. "There's lots of room on the bed. Its silly to sleep on the floor." She pointed out with a huff, "and aren't you gonna take off the bandages around your face, isn't it hard to breathe with it around your nose and mouth like that?" Naruto touched the bandages gingerly. He never took them off when outside Konoha. The whisker marks were well known within the fire nation, even the feudal lord had his picture, so it was very dangerous to be without them. "I like them a LOT." Naruto lied. Abby's little frown stretched until it reacched the corners of her face. "No, you don't," she stated simply, "you should take them off. _Damn, how does she do that?_ Abby crawled out of bed and tugged at the binds. "Stop that," Naruto said with a slight raise of voice, he panicked slightly. He knew it was an irrational fear seeing as even though the windows were open the possibility of an Ambu or anyone else choosing that moment to look in was slim. When she persisted he jumped up and slammed the windows shut with a light bang. He sighed and turned back to find the girl with a hurt and withdrawn look on her face. "Look, I'm sorry I yelled but people don't like... *Sigh, look, I'll take them off but you gotta promise not to say anything about what I look like until were inside of Konoha. The Sadaime would get in trouble with the feudal lord if it was found that I'm missing."

Abby still looked a little hurt but nodded never the less. Naruto took one last look at the window before he unrapped the bandages and let them fall to the ground. He sat on the ground to let her examine them. She walked up to him and put her finger to the rough black whisker marks that dominated the features of his face and traced them to the side. "There so... CUTE!" she squeeled. Naruto gaped at her and knew that his mouth opened up in shock at her exclaimation. Freakish. Cursed. Hidious. Monstrous. Disgusting. He'd heared all of those over the years and quite frequently but never did anyone say anything like THAT before. He closed his mouth and just looked at her, continplating wheather she suffered some kind of sight problem. She then proceeded to take his bandana off and smiled when his blonde hair spilled out. She giggled as the hair spilled into his eyes and Naruto attemped to put them back in place with a hard blow of air only to have them fall back down. He tucked her into bed and leaned against the wall once more. As his eyelids became heavy he found his mind wander back to previuos thoughts. _'Just three more days... I can make it.'_

_The sun shined a bloody shade, its rays like daggers agaisnt his skin. "I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING!" Naruto screamed as Ambu dragged him down the streets of Konoha. Rocks smashed against his body as he struggled uselessly against the tall silent figures. He yanked at his hands that lay tied behind his back. One of the Ambu shoved him hard and sent him to the ground in a crumbled heap. A villager decided to take advantage of the moment and kicked him harshly across the face and to the other side of the street. Naruto screamed in pain as he struggled to his feet only to be hit from behind. He layed there with his cheek against the ground gasping for breath until one of the Ambu forced him to his feet again. "PLEASE DON'T!" He pleaded with them, "I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING!" Blood covered his body as the stones and other like items hit him mercilessly and still they walked for what seemed like hours. Finally they arrived to the very middle of town, in front of the Hokage tower. There the two Ambu proceeded to tether him to a pole so his feet slightly dangled above the ground. _

_"KILL HIM!"_

_"WE DON'T WANT THAT THING HERE!"_

_"LET ME THROUGH I'LL KILL IT MYSELF!"_

_"HE'S BOTHERED US LONG ENOUGH!"_

_"JUST DIE TRASH!"_

_"THE THIRD SHOULD NEVER HAVE LET HIM LIVE!"_

_Naruto scanned the crowd begging anyone to help, to speak up and say he deserved to live, but no one did. He saw the Hokage his head turned to the side, just like that night. He saw his classmates with looks of disgust and contempt on their faces with some even cheering the Ambu on. He saw his teachers Mizuki, Kisho, Shiki and Iruka look on with pure hatred in their eyes. He scanned the hundreds of citizens that stood before him begging for his death. Lastly he saw Abby a few feet in front of them. Their eyes met for a brief moment and he felt himself break. He closed his eyes tightly and wished he could just dissapear. Fear, she was afraid of him. The girl began to step back until it turned into a full fledged run, after which she quickly dissapeared from his view. "I... I haven't.." Tears slid down his face as the Ambu raised a whip, "haven't done anything," he whispered. He wasn't sure how long they hit him but it seemed like days. The blood just continued to drip beneath and around him until a pool of crimson liquid reflected his beaten image back at him but death never came to end it. He saw the whip dropped and dimly realized that the Ambu pulled out his sword. Its sharp edge gently befriended his neck for a few moments and Naruto saw his eyes for the final time, dull and lifeless, a perfect match to the owner. Then it dissapeared as the Ambu made for his final strike..._

"NARUTO!" a grils voice yelled out. Naruto jerked awake and his eyes flew open and his breaths came heavy and ragged. He felt a pressure against his chest and panicked as it tightened around him. He tried to pry it away it away but stopped when he saw it was Abby. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to..." she whispered before she broke down in tears and Naruto put his arms around her akwardly and hugged her. He wasn't sure if he was doing it right though because he'd never been hugged before. He patted her back and rocked her back and forth but it didn't really seem to help and he just continued to hold her into the early hours of the morning. When finally the sobs subsided he looked down to find that she'd fallen asleep against him. Tears soaked his shirt through to the point that the bandages beneath now were damp. He sighed and carried her over to the bed. Gently he pushed the blankets aside and wiped her face clean of tears with the end of his shirt. Then slipt the blankets over her so that it covered to the tip of her chin. Naruto slid to the floor beside the bed and fell asleep, his body still warm from the child that cried against him for so long.

When both Naruto and Abby awoke early afternoon Naruto found that she would sneak a peek at him every few minutes as if to assure herself that he still stood there. Naruto himself couldn't really believe the girl actually wanted to be in his presence but shoved it to the back of his mind. A game he routinely did. He would find himself putting himself down all the time and would use chakre to lock the thoughts away. He did the same thing with bad memories and feelings. It was something he'd learned to do a long time ago and helped him not brake down. He would practically shove every positive thought and feeling that came to him and reinforce it with chakre so that the positive thought or feeling would become positive energy and then use it all day long. A technique he used when it became difficult to smile or laugh. Mostly though he felt nothing but negative thoughts and feelings so he would force himself to think of the few things in life that made him happy like Mr. Chief and Ayame and the ramen stand. The only place that had ever welcomed him. Sometimes he reinforced it too much though and appeared like a real idiot when his answer for a complicated equation at the academy came as 'ramen.'

They spent the rest of the day hand and hand. She refused to let his hand go and Naruto complied easily. They walked down the streets and Naruto told her tales he heared from the drunks and travelers that hung out at the bar on his street. He told her one about a husband who'd been kicked out of his house and how he won back favor with his wife by sending her flowers by the dozen to her door every day for a month and she'd come home with her house cleaned and grociers stocked because of him as well. The couple lived in his apartment building for the first few months of their stay in Konoha. They could afford better but at the time there'd been nothing available. He would come home from the academy to see the man putting the flowers in just the right order and thought how funny the man was. He would come out at six when the woman came home and watch her look of amazment and surprise. He never once said hello to the couple but they had seemed nice and he missed them when they left for a better area.

Abby seemed to really like his stories and Naruto found himself blush every few minutes. No one listened to him, ever... He'd never told any one of anything he'd heared or seen and hoped that he was doing it right. He couldn't believe he was actually having a conversation with someone. Not an arguement or a yelling match but an active conversation where the other person asked him questions and seemed generally interested. Abby didn't ignore him, hit or yell at him or even glare when he tried to talk. When at the ramen stand he felt more like a burden because he caused the Chiefs other customers to leave, so even though they welcomed him he usually stayed quiet and left quickly after he ate. When he did tell them something he felt worse because, though they seemed interested in what he had to say, he also noticed that they ignored thier other customers completely when they listened and it loss them bussiness. He always felt horrible about that and would not come back to the ramen stand for days afterwards so they could get the customers they lossed to him back. He felt himself swell with happiness. He felt immencely grateful towards the little girl even though he knew she might only be doing it so he would help her. He didn't know how children acted because he never got a childhood and never was able to play with other children. He interacted little with his classmates and knew only a small amount from observation.

From what he saw children seemed to be neive and think every one was good. When he first entered into the academy he'd been shocked that the childrens feelings were hurt by the simplest of things. They cried when someone called them a name or even lightly touched them. They went into histarics if other children didn't like them as well. All of them were incredibly loud too. This shocked him to no end and it took him a week to figure out that children were indeed allowed to talk and sometimes even encouraged. He'd been deeply confused by this because at the orphanage, on the streets and even in his apartment if he'd been loud they would beat him until he couldn't stand. This devastated him because he thought it confirmed his thoughts that there was something wrong with him. That he somehow caused the hatred that everyone showed him. He stupidly begged Jiji to tell him what he'd done wrong or was doing so he could fix it. He hand't understood why the Hokage looked down at him with such sad eyes at the time. JIji just said that no matter what he should remember to never stop being kind hearted. Naruto would never trust the man again but he stilled held those words dearly. It was the only compliment he'd ever received. He listened to her talk about how she loved to spend time in open fields and just twirl around until she became dizzy and fell.

When night finally approached he felt a sigh of relief escape his lips. The Ambu still hadn't caught him, he might make it past his birthday. Two days left... If he and Abby just spent another day and a half here and then took the day journey back to Konoha his birthday would be over. He tucked her into bed and slid beside it, one of the blankets underneath him this time. It's soft length the final temptation toward sleep. He knew though, that like every night it would be a nightmare. The only difference lay in what king. Sometimes it was a short one and then he could sleep without memory for the rest of the night or it could be a long drawn out nightmare that would leave him screaming into wakefulness. The later were the ones he'd been having more and more often. Once in a while though he'd fine himself _there,_ in the prison, those were unquestionably the worsed. It came as a kind of relief for him, that Abby caused nightmares. Nightmares would keep him from the prison and that in itself was a miracle. He always had nightmares so her presence made them no worse or frequent and she even did something good for him instead of bad. The prison was no nightmare, it was reality. If she forced him into a nightmare it meant that _he _couldn't drag Naruto into the... he shuddered as he felt the world go dark.

_He stood in the streets of a village he didn't recognize. All around him people paniced and ran for safety that he knew they would never find. A powerful gust of wind and chakre smashed buildings to pieces and sent the people around him to the ground. He was immune to this, the attacks, an observer of time. Naruto wearily watched as people struggled to stand and felt his throat go dry at the screams of a mother begging her baby to wake up. A man a bit away from Naruto staggered to his feet and moved slowly toward a woman who lay unconcious from the first shockwave. Another hit moments later and sent the man to the ground, but he again struggled to his feet and finally made it over to the woman. What he whispered to her he knew not because the winds blew to loud. The building above Naruto crumbled and sent debirs over many citizens, both concious and not. Their screams ripped through him like an icy blade that sent guilt to his every fiber. These were mere images of the past, he could do nothing to help these people. _

_He remembered so well one time when he was a child, about six, he saw a little girl his age fall in the middle of a panicked crowd. She screamed in pain as he tried to pick her up because of the many people who trambled over her. He remembered how she cried for her Dad but the man never showed up. In the end he'd just sat there numbly looking into the dead eyes of the girl. It hurt so much to see her die such a horrible way and he cried for hours as all the other people around her died bloody, violent deaths. No matter how bad the deaths got, that was the one he remembered. The girl was the only one he'd ever looked in the eye as she died. It felt as if his body chilled along with hers and from that point on a coldness filled his body every night when he was forced to see the past. Eight years he'd watched as people died and been unable to do anything. It was the reason he wanted to be a ninja, because he never wanted to see it happen in the present, he wanted peace more than anything else. If he ever had to see it in the present it terrified him that it would be like seeing the past. Forced to watch but not help._

_He felt it coming. Another shockwave, the biggest yet, hit the town. Towns like these, the ones that held no shinobe near by to protect them, hurt the worsed to watch. Thats when it made it's appearence. Tiny bubbles of red chakre began to seep its way into the streets like mist. It unfolded itself and found every nook and craney of every crack. With it came death itself. Naruto saw her... the first victim. An old woman who could not run away and had found herself far behind the line of the other citizens in their run to get away. To his surprise she seemed to look right at him, though he knew it to be impossible. Her eyes looked away and she turned to face her death a look of complete calm on her face. Startled, Naruto waited with baited breath. Praying that this woman actually had some way to survive instead of the resignation he'd seen in her eyes. _

_It came and made its way around her skin. He saw it begin to burn her skin away, witnessed the blood that flowed onto the street. And she just continued to stand there. She did not scream or cry out in pain and horror like all the others he'd seen before. He did not look away, not once. Not even when he saw the womans bones begin to show and her body collapse to the ground. He did not look away until she became no more than a bloody carcass on the street. He ignored the screams that hightened tenfold at the sight. Narutos eyes dulled over until his pupil all but dissapeared. He stupidly did that a lot. He would notice someone out of the ordinary who would seem to hold something special and follow that person in hopes that they might be the one to escape, to survive. Always though, he was dissapointed. Very few survive and he almost never saw them. That thing would continue until nothing was left, until no one was left. He ignored the hundreds of poeple who passed through him and the many who were trampled. He ignored them as the deadly posioned mist reached them and body after body fell to the ground, no more than a pile of burnt flesh. He ignored the buildings and streets that fell apart before him. He'd seen it all before only in a different town, with different people. _

_Thats when it appeared to finish the job. With one final attack the entire town stood no more and only he was left. Naruto looked down at himself, blood and gore covered every inch. It looked down on him, its fangs dripping with blood and cackled. Then it lowered itself so that Naruto was forced to look it in the eye. He felt his very soul slowly being torn at and fear corsed through him. Its breath forced him to close his eyes and take a step back. "Child! When I find a way to kill you I will make sure that its slow and painful for preventing my escape... But until that day comes I will greatly enjoy making you suffer." The voice sent pain ripping through his head and he felt his lungs burst with a... _

Naruto screamed as he sat up and held his head. The pain felt close to a dozen nails being shoved into his skull. A tear made its way down his cheek as his breaths came ragged and hot. His entire body drenched in sweat and bandages, bloodied once again, sent him to the bathroom. He lay'd on the floor and let the tiles cool surface tranfer to his hot skin. He'd wait a few minutes and then get fresh bandages. He heard the door to the bathroom slide opened and peeled his eyes a crack to see a very worried little girl standing their with a wet rag in her hand. With his head pounding it took him several minutes to realize the little girl was Abby. By this time she was leaning over him and placing it on his forehead. As the cold cloth touched his skin he sighed in pleasure. "Are you o.k?" she whispered. Naruto forced himself to nod to her, almost afraid to say anything quite yet.

He let the cold water slide down his face for a few minutes and took several deep breaths before he pushed himself up and against the wall. Abby sat quietly, her eyes trained on the floor, but he noticed that every few seconds her body would shake. Ignoring the headache that seemed to spike with his every move he reached out and pulled her down next to him. She stiffened for a second then relaxed. An uncomfortable silence filled the air as the two sat there and staired at the ceiling until...

"Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"Who hurt you?"

He grimaced and leaned his head against the wall. He figured that she would ask him sooner or later. Abby seemed to be the type who worried about every thing. Earlier that day she admonished him for picking up a particualarly heavy box because she'd seen his wounds on his arm and hand the other day. When he told her he was fine she put her hands on her hips and glared at him with such a fierce look he actually listened to the little six year old. He just stared at her as she suddenly smiled at him, grabbed his hand and tugged him down the street. He briefly wondered if it was because she was a girl or if it was a personality thing. For him, he'd be more comfortable with the personality idea. The thought that all girls suddenly changed moods like that scared him. He didn't really know what to tell her. How could you explain to a six year old that an entire village wanted you dead?

"I don't know, just some shinobe..." Vauge but somewhat truthful. She looked up at him and pouted, obviously not satisfied with the answer. Naruto shooed her out of the bathroom while he replaced the bandages with fresh ones. She sent him one of those glares at first but complied when he turned bright blue, puppy dog eyes on her. Once he was sure that she could not see him he quickly changed his bandages and slightly bloody clothes. He took several deep breaths before he pushed himself off the ground and came face to face with his mirror counter part. Weary blue eyes with dark rings under them and a grimace of pain met him. He stared at the whisker marks that adorned each cheek and silently begged them to go away. The ever present reminder that condemned him every moment of every day. He closed his eyes tightly, took one final deep breath and then went back to bed. '_Two more days left.'_

"We'll go to the next town over and spend the night there, then move on through a town called Tanzuka and finally spend tomorrow night in a city a few miles from Konoha known as... umm. 'puun puun Avue' (Fun, Fun Avenue) ? Weird." Naruto mumbled this last part to himself while his fingers traced the map aquired a few day prier. Abby looked up at him while she skipped from foot to foot down the dirt road they walked. Excitement clearly emanating from the childs core as small giggles slipt passed thin lips hidden behind a single hand while the other dangled back and forth not unlike a pendulum. They had been traveling since early morning at a fairly slow pace since Abby obviously couldn't keep up with his own pace and he difinetly held no intent to speed up his, well thier, return. Abby placed a finger on her chin and looked ahead of them as if the village could be seen with her grayish-blue eyes, the purple ring almost glowed in the light of the sun. "Hmm, I don't know I like the name..." Her voice cleared the air loud and joyous as if experimenting with it. Naruto noticed that whenever they were alone her voice would rise a few degrees than was actually neccesary and her eyes would move to a new object every few seconds, while in public she stayed quiet and kept her eyes trained on the ground. Almost the complete opposite of himself.

"Well spend the day there then camp out just outside the walls and sneak in around noon when the watch changes," he said with a nod of his head as if to tell himself this decision instead of the girl next to him. Naruto smiled down at her before he turned back to his map. The words seemed little more than scribbles, he knew only what a few of them sounded like. The entire time at the academy he learned everything orally and failed every test and quiz miserably. Not for lack of trying either. He tried desperately early on to find someone who would teach him but the teachers just laughed at him and said that some one so stupid couldn't learn how to do anything. He attempted to teach himself but without anyone to tell him what the words sounding like it was a lost cause. He could, however, write though. As a kid he copied every thing within his reach and more. His written work was perfect even if he didn't understand what they meant. He would copy every thing off the board and spent hours trying to understand what they meant when he got home. They taught you how to read the first year at the academy but, during the times he wasn't in the hospital or otherwise unable to attend, the teachers would make him stand outside the classroom for some reason or another. He knew better though, they just didn't want the...

"Naruto, LOOK!"

"Hmm?"

He raised his eyes to a sign that stood guard style above a dirt road with an arrow sign pointing up, the words were identical to the ones on the map. "Well it looks like this is the place," said Naruto as he shoved the map underneath his clothes. When they made it into town Abby immediately grabbed onto his hand and moved in close to the point that she almost stood behind him. The late morning sun showed cloudless and rippled with rays of heat that wove themselves into the skin of the market inhabitants. Naruto peered down at his little companion and frowned as he noticed a light shade of red spread across her cheeks and sweat coat her body. He took an object out of his bag and motioned for Abby to hold still. Naruto pulled up her hair and tied it neatly in a ponytail with some clean bandages then took off his bandana and carefully wrapped it around her hair. "There, now just pull up your sleeves and pants and you should be much cooler then before," he said softly. She nodded, her eyes brimming with something he couldn't recognize.

They made it into town within the hour and stayed the night at a run down inn with barely passable living conditions. Neither minded seeing as both had experienced worse in times past. They scooted into the same bed, since the floors appeared to crawl beneath them, and fell asleep almost as soon as they touched the lumpy mattress beneath the two. Some time in the middle of the night Naruto woke from a nightmare to the sounds of whimpers beside him. Abby tossed and turned and tears slid down her cheeks to form a steady stream that dampened the sheet and pillows. He wiped the grogginess from his eyes and shook her gently.

The moment his hand touched her shoulder the girls eyes flew open and screamed in panic and fear. Startled, Naruto sprang out of the bed before he stumbled and fell to the floor with a loud thud.


	4. Eh I don't know

**Disclaimer **

I think it might have been apart of Old Kind Heart in some way. A flashback? I don't even know. I should have just... deleted it the moment I typed it out.

Now you can hate it/ burn it/ laugh at it.

The wind blew harshly on the Hidden leaf village today but made up for it with bright blue skies and white clouds thrown here and there in different shapes. On the far side of the village a building stood two floors high and spanned about the same length as the Ninja academe. However instead of classrooms with desks there sat rooms with beds. A count of ten in each room, five beds against each wall with a large window dominating the back wall. Underneath the window sits a small figure about four years of age, legs drawn up against his body, hands tightly rapped around his knees. His shirt hangs far too loose on him, which further diminishes his already tiny frame. Unmanaged blond hair sprouts from the knees due to the fact that the child's face hides buried between chest and legs. Only the sound of strangled sobs echoes in the room. No one comes, no one hears, no one cares…

Outside the window a dozen children or so beat a ball around the courtyard, their laughter and joy fill the air with a tone of warmth that could place a smile on all but the coldest of people. The Adults sit nearby observing and supervising their charges with mild interest, their thoughts more intent toward the conversations with their colleagues. The day holds many promises to come, whether good or bad stands unknown. From the building emits a bell and the children of Konoha's Orphanage reluctantly halt their game to report to lunch in the inner building.

The child raises his face at the sound of the bell but makes no attempt to move. The sadness revealed seems too great to belong to one so young. Blue eyes haunted by shadows of pain and loneliness reveal themselves within a face red and puffy from tears. Whisker marks, three on each side, cross the boy's cheeks. His mouth a grimace of unease and caution. A few minutes pass before one arm then the other fall away from his knees to push him up from the ground onto wobbly feet. The child takes a deep breath then wipes the last tears away with the sleeve of his shirt. A sudden transformation appears where no one sees. The child's legs no longer wobble, his eyes are blue with no shadows to speak of, and a smile of mischief so wide that any one who saw the red of his face would think they imagined it. The perfect mask to hide behind, and the most difficult to maintain.

In the cafeteria area Mrs. Sano handed each of the eager faced children a tray of food, which they took and found them-selves a seat. The child not unexpectedly arrived last and took his place at the end of the line. When he arrived at the hand out area Mrs. Sano just stared through him instead of the bright smile she gave the other children but the child continued to smile broadly as if he didn't notice and thanked her for the food. He then found a place a little ways away from the other children and began to sink his teeth into a rice ball when a small group of children walked up to him. The child looked up, surprise audible on his face for a moment but quickly hidden behind a genuine smile. The other children ignored him for the most part so to actually be approached sent a thrill of happiness through him.

"Hay Naruto," A large kid named Mintos called out.

Mintos had yet to be adopted into a family even though he was six years old already. Mintos attended the Konoha ninja academy, you began at five and stayed at the Orphanage for one year before you were set up in an apartment of your own. This of course made him somewhat the boss of the other kids, a sort of leader. It was rare that an orphan in Konoha was not adopted by the time they reached age six. Naruto felt bad for him and hoped that the upcoming adoption day would see Mintos with a family of his own. If Mintos didn't find a family this time around the third Hokage held a law that a guardian would be asigned next door to the apartment to watch over them until they were old enough. A guardian did such things as cooked, clean, make sure the child went to bed and such. Oh and make sure each child made it to school each day. Each of the children here were allowed to choose to go to a regular school or the ninja academy.

"We need one more person to play ninja with us after lunch, do you want to play?" Mintos asked.

"Yeah," Naruto said immediately, afraid that they might change their minds. "Ninja" the game could be compared to hide and seek only there were two key differences. The first was that everyone chased after ONE person hiding while the rest hunted that person down. The second difference was that instead of the person hiding being tagged they were hit with a soft wooden stick (which was supposed to be a kuniu).

"Good," Mintos said, "then meet us on the other side of the building where the big tree is. O.K?"

Naruto nodded his head, too excited for words. The group of children left without saying anything else. In his excitement Naruto ate lunch quickly and arrived at the designated area earlier than the other children. He sat underneath the big tree and imagined how it would be to be one of the ninja, strong and brave, to never hesitate before they leap into danger to protect the village. Just like Abby. A couple of minutes passed before the end of lunch bell sounded through the area. Naruto fidgeted, hardly able to breathe in anticipation. Would he be good at playing ninja? He hoped so. He didn't want to disappoint his teammates or even worse have them loose the game because of him. That would be awful.

A few minutes passed, then ten, and pretty soon an hour passed by with no sign of the other children. As each minute passed Naruto felt another stab of pain but he would not leave, just in case they came and still wanted to play, just in case. Another half an hour passed by and still no one came. Naruto's hands griped his shorts tightly, his entire body shook, but still he waited. They'll come and say how sorry they were about being late and then we'll play ninja. Yeah, that's what they'll do…

Another hour passed before Naruto took in a painful breath. They weren't going to show. The reality crushed Naruto and it became difficult to breathe. Then, in the distance, a group of children began to make their way to where Naruto sat. Naruto then regretted ever doubting them and stood up to wave at them. They all held smiles on their faces which hurt a little. They didn't seem aware at all of how long they'd made him wait. It didn't matter though because they were here and all of them were going to play ninja. Mintos said something to the others and they burst into raucous laughter. Naruto still couldn't hear however because of the distance between them. With each step though his voice grew clearer and Naruto began to understand what the words meant. Each one hit like a sharp stone and soon Naruto no longer waved or smiled.

"…the little freak actually waited this long? How stupid can you get?" Mintos roared to the others drawing yet another round of laughs from them.

They all stopped a few feet away from the now silent Naruto. Hurt tears threatened to pour from the corners of his eyes but Naruto hated the thought of them seeing him cry so he duct, allowing the shadow of the tree to hide his face. A numbness rapt around him as Mintos continued with his taunts.

"Never mind that he actually waited but to think that we would play with him?"

Mintos walked over and into Naruto's face forcing him to look up or be back up against the tree's bark. The boys face seemed to be twisted by the nasty smile across his lips, somehow frozen in a state of ugliness that Naruto had never seen before on a child's face. It was the eyes that made him gasp though. A pair of dark brown eyes that seemed to hold all the icy sharpness of a blizzard, a hatred that Naruto recognized from many different sources. He'd never seen it displayed in one of the other children though, even if they ignored him they never actually hated him like the adults, until now… Mintos saw the tears and smiled even wider.

"Look at the little baby, he's crying his eyes out!" Mintos laughed at this and of course joined in by his followers.

Naruto couldn't take it any longer and shoved passed the older boy with all of his strength. He knocked the kid off his feet and even as Mintos shouted and hit the ground Naruto's feet carried him far away, motivated by the others surprised shouts. He ran through the gates and onto the streets. Naruto ran long and hard with no idea of where he intended to go. The hurt continued to fill his steps until they eventually gave out and he collapsed in a heap of sobs and heavy breathing. For quite a while he just lay there sobbing, completely unaware of his surroundings. As the sobs finally subsided Naruto began to realize that grass lay under his fingers and face.

Night had fallen already making him wonder how long he'd really been there. A chill in the air sent his arms to rap around his shoulders in an attempt to keep warm. His clothes lay crumbled and dirty against his skin and his face probably held some dirt stains on it as well. The moon glared down on him as if it too held words of scorn at his disheveled self. His body ached from the position he'd been in for so long and every movement brought another reminder. Why was he so stupid? He should have known they would never want to play with him. No one ever did.

That in itself confused him. He didn't understand why they didn't want to play, he didn't act any differently than the other children did. Did he? The only difference he could see were the marks on his face but there were all sorts of people in the village with marks on their faces so why would that matter? Perhaps he just wasn't smart enough to see what every one else saw so easily. When he asked Abby these questions she only became angry with him and said there was absolutely nothing wrong with him. She happened to be the only person who didn't get angry with him too much so he tended to avoid asking her. Even so, how could she be right if everyone else in the world thought he was bad? He just wished they would tell him what he did wrong so that he wouldn't keep doing it… Whatever it was.

Naruto didn't want to move, didn't want to go back, but knew he would have to… eventually. He hugged his knees and stayed there, maybe if he waited till they were asleep and went in he wouldn't have to deal with them until morning. But Abby worked the night shift at the orphanage and he didn't want to miss her either. She would be angry with him if she knew he'd run away from the orphanage… again. She'd attended the ninja academy and even become a Chunin at an early age, she worked at the orphange to earn extra money, performing D-ranked missions during the late afternoon and C-ranked missions over the weekends. Abby would tell him stories about her childhood and about the 4th Hokage who she'd been friends with before the nine tailed fox attacked the village.

So it was this that got him up off the ground and in the direction of the Orphanage. Unfortunately he'd gone quite a ways, to one of the training areas for the ninja of the village located in its woods. A wind began to pick up and Naruto felt his fingertips numb a bit as he found the dirt path and clumsily trudged down its narrow stream. Darkness seemed to fill every space of that the trees held no possession of, turning the shadows to it's will. Narutos steps became quicker until he found himself in full sprint to escape the claws of branches that reached out for him.

Naruto stumbled, his head smacked against a close by tree and he winced in pain. Hands holding his head as the few feet he could see in front of him swam into focus again. The first thing he saw where a pair of black boots not eight inches from nose. "Your going to hurt yourself a lot worse if you continue rushing down a narrow path like this…" Naruto felt his chest fill with relief as Abby knelt beside him.

She grimaced as she looked over his filthy clothes and grimy face. She was slightly annoyed with him for leaving the safety of the Orphanage, but relieved that he was o.k.

The young woman who stood in front of Naruto sported long blue hair held in a braid down her back that just touched her hip. Gray eye's filled with mischief and kindness gave a grace and light to her face that brightened any room she gathered in. Her lips always held a trace of a small that threatened to burst into full laughter at any moment. Her Hitai-ite band stretched black across her forehead, widest in the middle then narrowed to small strips to fly behind her with every whim of the winds. Her pants matched her band, black as night and plenty of space for free movement. Her shirtsleeves revealed her shoulders only to cover her fingertips with its bright orange silk. Orange, as Naruto knew was her favorite color… He really didn't care for it but the color was as much apart of her as her Hitai-ite, however he did love it for its meaning. She'd told him it one night after he'd gotten left in a field in the dark as a joke by the other children; that orange signified hope, the light of determination.

Naruto grinned guiltily up at her, his cheeks a slight tinge of red. Abby sighed and started dusting him off and adjusting his clothes so he didn't look so disheveled. "You know the others have already eaten dinner?" Abby said sternly. Naruto nodded his eyes hidden from her sight. His small frame looked pathetic in the moonlight and she lost any harshness that she'd worked so hard to hold into place. "I suppose since I haven't eaten yet either, that we could sneak into the kitchen and find something to eat though," Abby said. Naruto looked up with a huge grin on his face as she said this, but it quickly diminished with her next words. "Then you can tell me why you decided to take this little trip in the first place."

She stood up hands on hips and looked down on him. "The only problem is that your soooooo slow." His ears perked up like she knew they would. "I guess the only way we could possibly make it in time before the cook locks the door would be to have you get on my back and for me to jump across a lot of roof tops." He was absolutely beaming now. She bent down and allowed her to slip his hands around her neck and then making sure she had him in her grasp leaped into the trees and, with a burst of chakre, sprung into great heights that sent the child laughing with joy.

They made it to the Orphanage in only a few minutes time, dust swirled all around them as Abby came to a halt. She lifted a key from around her wrist and opened the door as quietly as she could with the unwanted aide of the squeaky door. They moved through the halls passed the bedrooms where the other children were readying themselves for sleep. The kitchen smelled wonderfully of stew and Naruto gratefully sat down as Abby poured them each a bowl. They held up their bowls to each other and with a whisper of Itadakimasu they dug in.

When they were finished both had managed to scorch their lips half a dozen times but the heat left by the stew was welcomed. "Now I think you should tell me what happened little one," Abby said softly before Naruto could come up with some way to avoid it. Naruto hesitated for a moment but told her what happened in such a small whisper that she was force to move right next to him to hear. With each revelation she felt her teeth grind against each other and her fists clench out of the sight of the childs eyes. As he finished a terrible silence filled the air worsened by the look of painful expression on his face. "Abby? What did I do? Whatever it is I'm sorry…" A single tear rolled down the side of his cheek that made her want to scream in frustration. What was wrong with HIM? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It was people who were so fucking screwed up.

"Little one, you have done nothing wrong and don't ever let anyone tell you differently!" Abby told him sternly. Moments of silence passed before Naruto returned the smile she loved so much to his face. "Thank you Abby-chan!" Abby looked out the window and for a moment her eyes became unclear… "Naruto, I almost have enough saved up you know, I'm going to get you out of this place. That I promise you."

Naruto didn't say anything and Abby almost thought that he might have left the room but when she turned back to him there he was, his gaze just as unfocused as hers when she spoke. His cheeks were flushed red and his hands shaking slightly. "Do you really promise?" He asked, voice trembling as the words formed. "Yes, and when I do well move into a big apartment, just you and me, so well have lots of room to run around and go nuts if we want to," Abby said spreading her arms out for emphasis, "Well have ramen every night and sing out until the Ambu squad comes to arrest us."

"That sounds sooo cool," Naruto screeched and Abby closed her hand around his mouth. "But not yet," She reminded him pointing down the hall at the rooms of now sleeping children. Naruto gave an excited nod. "You should go to bed little one, it's getting late," Abby added as she noticed his weary eyes droop for the third time. "I'm not tired though," Naruto claimed. His meager protest was ruined though when he rubbed his eyes and stuck his thumb in his mouth. She scooped him up in her arms and slid soundlessly into the room of sleeping children. Naruto was asleep before she even got him to his bed.

Naruto skipped from foot to foot as the morning wore on like a broken clock. Weeks had past and the day he'd been waiting for approached almost slow enough for Naruto to wonder if time had stopped only as a cruel joke on his behalf. Naruto wouldn't turn five until a month after he would be admitted into the academy. Five was the time you began but if your birthday was within four months of the start date you were allowed to attend before. A month before all the students began their classes Konoha held a traditional day where all future students met to introduce themselves to each other and be evaluated on your skill level thus far by a group of the academy teachers. No one else from the Orphanage would be in his year group, which meant they would all be new faces. New opportunities.

The meet was scheduled for the end of this week and Abby'd promised to take him to the shops to get him some new clothes for the school year. The shopkeepers did not in any way enjoy Naruto's presence in their stores but they didn't usually say much in front of the ill tempered Kunoichi. Their glares instead found there way to him when her back turned for a second or he would be "accidentally" tripped on his way by. Many of these "accidents" seem to occur when he walked down the street. Naruto thought he must be the clumsiest person in all of Konoha. He'd yet to walk down a single street where he didn't get a bruise, cut, smear, bump or the occasional burn when he happened to be particularly unlucky that day. Naruto tried his best not to trip on any of the things that seemed to appear in front of his feet or loose his balance from accidentally being knocked from behind or the side, but this usually proved quite difficult for some reason.

Abby would be there in the afternoon so Naruto found himself on his bed his head periodically peering from the images through the window and the hands of the clock on the other side of the room.


	5. Misunderstanding

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

I hated the idea as soon as I typed it out. No real plot, no real leading scenes, nothing. I don't even know why I kept it.

It was my first attempt at writing a fic concerning anorexia. It doesn't even particularly make sense.

A Misunderstanding

A series of misunderstandings between Sakura and Naruto results in him trying to fix all of his faults and loses a dangerous amount of weight. Will Sakura realize the horrendous mistake she's made before Naruto ends up in the hospital?

Ino felt her eye twitch as Chouji consumed yet another piece of barbeque. A heavy sigh escaped, but it was quickly replaced with a smile as she saw team 7 walk through the door. Team 10 and team 7, as instigated by the konoichi of the said teams, planned a luncheon at Team 10's favorite barbeque restaurant. Her eyes wondered over each team member; Kakashi sensei, book in left hand while right in the pocket of his pants, at the lead of the group. Next her adorable Sasuke with his cool, stoic expression adorning his ever handsome features. Then came her best friend/rival, Sakura, face brightening as she spotted Ino and waved. Finally there was… Ino frowned and her eyes narrowed at the sight. Naruto.

She'd noticed, as was her observant nature of such things, that over the last few months the only other blonde of the rookie twelve had grown rounder. In other words, he'd gained weight, and a lot of it. The four boys moved to the booth beside Team 10's while Kakashi and Sakura sat beside their respective age group. As Sakura scooted in next to her Ino continued to stare at the other blonde, barely visible past Asuma sensei's head. The young teen laughed loudly at something Shikamaru said and dug in to the food with a vigor similar to Chouji.

Sakura noticed Ino's direction of view and raised an eyebrow at her friend. "What's up Ino?" Sakura asked curiously. They spoke in whispers so as to not be overheard by their sensei's. Ino snorted and shook her head. "Come on Sakura, your not serious are you? You can't tell me you haven't noticed." Sakura frowned at her and took another glance at Naruto before blushing. "Its not… that bad." Sakura said softly, though she seamed to be trying to convince herself rather than Ino. "Its that bad," Ino corrected her firmly. "Its not healthy gaining all that weight," Ino continued, hands extending from her stomach to emphasize her point.

Sakura put her hands under her chin, a depressed air around her now. "Well, what do you think I should do about it Ino?" Sakura asked closing her eyes. Ino folded her arms across her chest and looked up at the ceiling. "I think you should confront him, explain how unhealthy it is and just tell him to lose a few pounds." Sakura inhaled sharply. The strawberry haired kunouichi opened her eyes and let her hands drop to her sides, she bit her lip and looked strait at Ino with uncertainty. "I don't think I could do that to him. It's only a bit of extra weight, I'm sure he'll lose it soon enough." Sakura said doubtfully. Ino shook her head in exasperation. "Or he could get worse and end up like Chouji. And that is NOT a BIT of weight that he's gained Sakura." Sakura winced before her eyes wondered to Naruto again. Ino patted her on the shoulder. "Look, I'll go with you and help you out, O.K?" Ino asked with a smile. Sakura glumly nodded in thanks.

After dinner was over the two teams walked down the street of the market. Naruto, as it was his natural reaction while in such a densely populated part of Konoha, allowed himself to shrink back behind everyone a bit and keep his gaze to the ground. Eventually though his gaze found itself on one particular store, normally he wouldn't think of going in because he never had any extra money to buy some, but they'd gotten quite a bit from their last mission. Naruto fingered the extra money in his pocket excitedly and decided that he'd get some. He walked into the sweets store and peered around for his all time favorite treat. Thankfully this was one of the few stores that tolerated him enough to let him buy something. Naruto smiled brightly as the bag came into view. Patty mints. He almost never could afford them so this was a special moment.

Naruto picked them up and turned around a big smile on his face, only to nearly walk into two bodies directly behind him. Naruto yelped in surprise and slipped a kunie into his hands before recognition flittered across his face. "Ino, Sakura. Geez you two nearly gave me a heart attack." Naruto said with a relieved sigh. He patted his chest dramatically and tilted his head back in an exaggerated motion to suggest he might never recover. He heard Sakura giggle and silently smiled to himself. He looked back at them and was startled to see Ino with a severe frown on her face while Sakura quickly covered up her smile and became serious. Ino pointed to the bag in his hand and asked. "Are you sure you should be buying that?" Naruto looked down at the bag of mints with confusion. He walked up to the cash register with a shrug. "Yeah, I mean, there my favorite so what's wrong with it?" Naruto asked curiously as he put it on the counter.

Ino looked like she was about to say something but Sakura whispered something to her in her ear. Ino froze but nodded. The bag was wrung up and the three walked out of the store together. "Naruto?" Sakura asked softly. Naruto peered at her curiously, "Yeah?" Sakura blushed and looked away from him. "Do you think that Ino and I could talk to you somewhere private?" Now he was really bewildered. "Um, sure, I think the park is close by and since its almost dark no one will be there. Is that O.K?" Naruto asked. Sakura looked ready to say something but Ino nodded in agreement and the three changed directions and parted from the rest of the group. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him to which Naruto just shrugged helplessly in reply. Sasuke smirked at him at which Naruto pouted slightly. There silent conversation all that was needed.

When they were almost to the park Naruto excitedly pulled out a couple mints and popped one into his mouth. The cool burst of flavor just as good as he remembered. He offered one to Sakura and Ino but the two seemed to stiffen at the offer and quickly declined. He shrugged at them then popped another into his mouth. _'More for me then,'_ he thought. When they finally made it within the park Ino gave him a small glare. "Do you REALLY think you should be eating those?" She asked. Naruto just gave her a confused stare and looked down at the bag. "What's wrong with them?" He asked again, startled. "You… They just aren't healthy Naruto." Sakura said. "And besides that," Ino added in a loud voice laced with disgust, "we just finished dinner and you're already eating again." A slight blush touched Naruto's cheeks and he swallowed the bite of mint slowly. "There just mints Ino," Naruto muttered.

An uncomfortable silence filled the air as the three finally decided to sit down on a bench. Naruto sitting on top of the bench's back, feet planted in the seat while Ino and Sakura sat on either side of him on the seats themselves. Ino and Sakura both dropped their heads in frustration, Naruto just wasn't getting there slightly less than subtle hints. "Naruto," Sakura said finally, "have you noticed that you've been eating more lately?" Sakura asked. The slight blush came back to his face and the bag in his hand sagged slightly. "No, not really," Naruto muttered. And it was true. As far as he knew he wasn't eating more than usual, even though Shizune said it would be a good idea if he did, droning on and on about how underweight he was. "Why?" Naruto asked. Sakura's face turned a dark shade of red from embarrassment and her gaze fell on Ino, eyes begging for help.

Naruto was startled when Ino suddenly cried out in frustration. "God you're dense. Look Naruto you've picked up quite a few pounds." Ino said bluntly. It was Naruto's turn to turn a dark shade of red. "No, I just made my jacket thicker, right Sakura?" He asked. After all Sakura had seen him without his jacket while at the hotel when they shared a room. Naruto turned toward Sakura and felt his stomach twist. She wouldn't look at him. "It's true. You've gained a lot of weight Naruto." If it were possible Naruto turned an even deeper shade of crimson as humiliation and embarrassment enveloped him whole. Naruto valued Sasuke and Sakura's opinion above any one else's. This hurt as much if not more so than what she thought of the scars across his cheeks. "Oh," Naruto finally said after a moment of tense silence.

"Look," Ino said with a shrug, "just stop gorging yourself with food and go on a diet." Ino placed her hand around the bag of mints and gently pried them from Naruto's limp hand. "And stop eating all these sweets." Ino expertly tossed the bag into the trash bin fifteen feet away. "You've gotten kinda fat, but since you've always been little it shouldn't be too hard to get rid of it," Ino added thoughtfully. Both Naruto and Sakura winced at that. Sakura peered over at Naruto, but the blonde's bangs hung low over his eyes, hiding them from her. "So… how much weight do you think I should lose Sakura?" Naruto asked quietly. "Ten… maybe fifteen pounds. Not that much." Sakura replied softly. Naruto lowered his head further. Ino snorted. "More like twenty-five," Ino whispered though both Sakura and Naruto could hear her clearly. Naruto hopped off the bench, making sure to avoid their gazes. He shoved his hands in his pockets and began to walk away from the two girls. Naruto stopped briefly though and looked up at the sky above. "Thanks… for telling me the truth." Naruto said with a slight tremble to his voice. He took a deep breath and quickly disappeared. "See Sakura! He appreciated that we told him! You had nothing to worry about." Ino said brightly. Some how that didn't stop the guilt rushing through her, some how it felt like she'd just made a horrible mistake.


End file.
